Kaestner  &  Brow 


LOS    ANGELES,     CAL. 


This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below 


v  hvKsiY  of  CALIFORNIA 

AT 

:LOS  ANGELES 
LIBRARY 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  INTERIOR, 

BtTEEAU  OF  EDUCATION. 


fa 


PLANTING  TREES  IN  SCHOOL  GROUNDS 


CELEBRATION  OF  ARBOR  DAY 


WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT  FEINTING-  OFFICE. 

1835. 


ll 


CONTENTS. 


Page. 

Note V 

PLANTING  TREES  IN  SCHOOL  GROUNDS. 

General  considerations 3 

Where  to  plant 5 

What  should  we  plant  T 6 

When  to  plant 7 

Arbor  day 7 

Collections 8 

TREES  AND  TREE  PLANTING  AND  THE  CELEBRATION  OP  ARBOR  DAY. 

Officers  of  the  Ohio  State  Forestry  Association  for  1884 2 

Preface 3 

Introduction 11 

PABT  FIB8T. 

Lessons  from  history  and  other  facts 15 

Palestine  ..._ 15 

Germany 15 

Province  of  Diiben,  Saxony 16 

France 16 

Spain 16 

The  eastern  coast  of  the  Adriatic  Sea 17 

Sicily 17 

Pyrenees 17 

Italy 18 

Island  of  Ascension 18 

Ceylon 18 

St.  Helena 19 

Island  of  Santa  Cruz 19 

Algiers,  Saint  Jago  Island 20 

Island  of  Ternate 20 

Bucharia ; 20 

Ohio 21 

Kentucky 21 

Massachusetts .., 21 

The  Northwest T I.  22 

Arizona 22 

Nevada 23 

Forests  and  their  manpgement  in  other  countries 24 

How  moisture  is  retained  by  forests 26 

Effects  of  the  cutting  of  forests  on  water  supply  of  rivers 27 

The  rain  and  forests 28 

Floods .^ 29 

Immense  amount  of  water  given  to  the  atmosp  here  by  trees 29 

ill 


IV  CONTENTS. 

Page. 

Healthfulness  of  forests 29 

Mechanism  of  a  tree 30 

Proportionate*  area  of  woodland 31 

Roadside  trees 31 

Famous  trees 32 

Arbor  Day '. 34 

Destruction  of  forests  in  Ohio 35 

How  to  plant  trees 36 

Some  thoughts  and  suggestions  on  tree-planting 36 

Transplanting  trees 37 

Planting  forests 39 

Forest  culture 39 

Profits  of  forest  culture 40 

Village  improvement  societies 43 

PAET  SECOND. 

Selections  on  trees  for  arbor  day  celebrations 45 

The  Wayside  Inn— An  Apple  Tree 47 

Forest  Song 48 

Song  to  the  Trees 49 

The  Oak 50 

The  Forest  Flowers 53 

The  Forest * 56 

The  Oak 57 

The  Poplar  Field 61 

The  Woodland  Hallo 62 

ThePineTree 63 

The  Pine  Tree  ...  64 


NOTE. 


DEPARTMENT  OP  THE  INTERIOR, 

BUREAU  OF  EDUCATION, 

Washington,  January  31,  1885. 

In  response  to  numerous  demands  made  on  this  Office  for  information 
respecting  tree  planting  and  the  celebration  of  arbor  day,  the  follow- 
ing pamphlets  are  printed  for  general  distribution.  The  first,  by  Dr. 
Hough,  which  originally  appeared,  in  1883,  as  a  bulletin  of  the  Bureau 
of  Education,  has  proved  very  helpful  to  the  numerous  educators  who 
have  already  received  it.  The  second  work,  first  published  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Ohio  State  Forestry  Association  in  1884,  is  presented 
through  the  courtesy  of  Hon.  John  B.  Peaslee,  superintendent  of  the 
public  schools  of  Cincinnati,  by  whom  it  was  copyrighted  and  who 
kindly  loans  the  plates. 

JOHN  EATON, 
Commissioner. 


PLANTING  TREES  IN  SCHOOL  GROUNDS.     . 


DE.  FEANKLIN  B.  HOUGH. 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  INTERIOR, 

BUREAU  OF  EDUCATION. 


PLANTING  TREES  IN  SCHOOL  GROUNDS. 


DEPABTMENT  OF  THE  INTEKIOB,  BUREAU  OF  EDUCATION, 

Washington,  April  9,  1883. 

The  advisability  of  adorning  school  grounds  by  planting  shade  and  ornamental  trees 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  school-house  has  frequently  been  dwelt  upon  by  educational 
writers  and  architects  and  has  been  more  than  once  referred  to  in  the  publications  of 
this  Office.  Abroad  the  subject  has  generally  received  a  greater  share  of  the  attention 
its  importance  demands  than  in  this  country,  and  in  Austria  the  taste  and  knowledge  of 
pupils  are  developed  by  means  of  their  own  contributions  in  beautifying  the  school 
grounds  through  the  planting  and  care  of  trees  and  shrubs.  In  several  States  of  the 
American  Union,  however,  there  is  a  growing  disposition  among  school  officers  to  avail 
themselves  of  this  effective  means  of  culture  and  to  foster  a  spirit  in  the  community 
wnich  will  facilitate  the  operation  of  laws  passed  for  the  encouragement  of  tree  planting 
and  the  protection  of  trees;  in  Connecticut,  especially,  the  late  energetic  secretary  of  the 
State  board  of  education,  Hon.  B.  G.  Northrop,  inaugurated  a  movement  which  is  im- 
proving the  surroundings  of  schools  in  the  rural  districts  almost  beyond  recognition,  and 
in  West  Virginia  the  commendable  efforts  of  the  department  of  public  instruction,  under 
the  direction  of  Hon.  B.  L.  Butcher,  have  resulted  in  similar"  improvements.  The  work 
of  Dr.  Peaslee,  city  superintendent  of  Cincinnati,  in  the  same  direction,  has  also  been 
especially  successful. 

Many  considerations  of  an  obviously  persuasive  character  may  readily  be  adduced  to 
encourage  the  practice  of  tree  planting,  whether  the  subject  be  looked  at  from  an  economi- 
cal, a  sanitary,  or  an  aesthetic  standpoint,  and  in  the  excited  interest  with  reference  to 
this  subject  which  characterized  the  centennial  year  they  were  vigorously  urged  and 
favorably  received.  Trees,  moreover,  are  largely  planted  with  a  view  to  benefit  pos- 
terity, and  advantages  may  accrue  that  were  not  at  all  foreseen  by  the  original  planter. 
A  striking  illustration  of  this  is  afforded  in  the  case  of  Evelyn's  Sylva,  published  in 
1664.  Evelyn's  efforts  were  mainly  directed  to  introducing  ornamental  plantations  into 
England,  but  they  eventually  resulted  in  supplying  her  at  an  opportune  moment  with 
the  timber  needed  in  the  construction  of  the  navy  by  means  of  which  she  maintained 
here  supremacy  at  sea  during  the  Napoleonic  wars. 

The  writer  of  the  accompanying  letter,  Dr.  Franklin  B.  Hough,  chief  of  the  forestry 
division  in  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  is  a  gentleman  whose  unusual  attainments 
and  wide  experience  in  the  science  of  arboriculture  peculiarly  entitle  him  to  be  heard. 

JOHN  EATON, 

Commissioner. 


WASHINGTON: 
GOVERNMENT   FEINTING   OFFICE. 

1885. 


PLANTING  TREES  IN  SCHOOL  GROUNDS. 


WASHINGTON,  March  27,  1883. 

SIR  :  Having  been  often  asked  for  advice  on  the  matter  of  tree  planting  upon  grounds 
adjacent  to  school-houses  and  other  educational  institutions,  I  deem  it  proper  to  submit 
to  you  some  suggestions  on  the  subject  which,  if  thought  suitable,  might  be  recommended 
by  you  to  those  having  charge  of  the  property  of  these  establishments.  Besides  answer- 
ing the  inquiries  now  pending,  and  thus  relieving  me  from  the  care  of  separate  reply, 
the  suggestions,  supported  by  your  recommendation,  might  lead  to  planting  upon  these 
grounds  in  many  places  where  the  intention  had  not  previously  been  entertained,  and 
the  benefits  as  well  in  the  direct  effect  secured  from  actual  plantation  as  indirectly  in  the 
cultivation  of  a  taste  for  rural  ornament  and  homestead  improvement  might  be  assured. 

GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS. 

There  are  some  points  to  be  considered  at  the  outset  which  apply  to  all  situations  and 
to  every  case  that  may  arise.  Trees  planted  adjacent  to  school-houses,  academies,  and 
the  like  will  be  exceptionally  liable  to  injury  from  the  thoughtless  or  possibly  the  ma- 
licious acts  of  children,  to  prevent  which  they  must  be  carefully  taught  the  necessity  of 
letting  them  alone;  and  incidentally  they  should  be  told  how  important  it  is,  not  only 
with  the  trees  that  may  be  set  upon  their  school-house  grounds,  but  upon  plantations 
generally,  whether  for  ornament  or  profit,  that  they  should  be  guarded  from  injuries  of 
every  kind. 

There  is  perhaps  no  injury  to  which  trees  in  front  of  a  school-house  are  more  exposed 
than  that  of  being  wounded  or  broken  down  through  use  as  hitching  posts  for  horses. 
To  prevent  this,  there  should  be  provided  a  sufficient  number  of  strong  posts  for  this  use; 
and  as  a  further  protection  there  should  be  a  bar  outside  of  the  outer  line  of  trees  and  a 
separate  guard  around  every  tree,  at  least  until  the  trees  have  grown  to  a  size  that  will 
render  this  protection  no  longer  needed. 

In  starting  groves  of  trees,  it  is  sometimes  cheaper  to  sow  or  plant  the  seeds  where  the 
trees  are  to  remain;  but  in  no  case  will  this  be  possible  in  the  plantations  we  are  con- 
sidering. The  trees  used  must  be  first  started,  and  should  be  grown  to  as  great  a  size  as 
practicable  before  they  are  set.  To  secure  success  they  should  be  selected  from  nursery 
plantations  or  from  those  that  have  sprung  up  in  open  places,  such  as  the  seedling  trees 
along  fences,  so  that  there  may  be  an  abundance  of  the  small  fibrous  roots.  Without  this 
precaution  they  will  be  very  liable  to  fail.  It  should  be  further  borne  in  mind,  that  if 
the  roots  are  much  exposed  to  the  sun  or  to  a  cold  or  drying  wind  their  vitality  may  be 
soon  lost.  Great  care  should  be  taken,  if  they  are  brought  from  an  adjoining  place  and 
planted  immediately,  to  retain  as  much  soil  among  them  as  possible,  and  to  prefer  a  damp 
and  cloudy  day.  By  placing  the  roots  of  the  trees  as  soon  as  they  are  drawn  from  the 
ground  upon  a  coarse  strong  sheet  of  canvas,  and  binding  this  around  them,  this  object 
may  be  best  secured.  Straw  or  moss,  a  little  dampened,  will  serve  this  purpose  very 
well,  and  sometimes  the  trees  may  be  set  in  a  box  or  barrel  with  some  of  the  better  soil 
in  which  they  grew,  for  their  removal.  Sometimes  trees  can  be  removed  in  winter  with 
great  advantage  by  digging  a  trench  around  them  in  the  fall  and  allowing  the  earth  to 
reeze,  so  that  a  disk,  including  the  tree  and  its  roots,  may  be  removed  entire. 

3 


It  should,  however,  be  remembered  that  the  transplanting  of  large  trees  is  a  difficult, 
uncertain,  and  expensive  process,  and  that  as  a  general  rule,  for  the  plantations  under 
notice,  the  largest  size  should  not  exceed  two  inches  in  diameter.  Trees  of  half  this 
thickness  would  be  much  less  likely  to  fail,  and  would  in  five  years  probably  outgrow 
the  larger  ones,  but  they  would  need  a  little  more  protection  at  first  and  might  not  be 
as  much  respected  as  their  "big  brothers."  If  of  the  larger  size,  they  might  need  brac- 
ing with  wires  to  prevent  them  from  being  swayed  by  the  winds  until  their  roots  are 
well  started.  The  greatest  care  should  be  taken  to  prevent  the  wires  from  cutting  into 
the  trees,  by  placing  blocks  of  wood  around  the  places  where  the  wires  are  fastened,  and 
by  providing  that  the  growth  at  that  place  is  not  too  much  obstructed  while  they  remain. 
In  taking  up  a  tree  we  should  avoid  cutting  off  the  large  roots  too  near  the  trunk.  They 
should  be  carefully  followed  out  to  a  convenient  distance,  and  in  setting  them  again, 
they  should  have  space  enough  provided  without  bending  them.  Besides  the  gain  in 
nutrition  thus  secured  by  the  tree,  we  have  by  this  means  an  additional  security  in  the 
bracing  and  support  secured  by  a  broad  base  and  steady  "anchorage."  The  ends  of 
broken  roots  should  be  cut  off  smooth  before  the  tree  is  planted. 

The  holes  for  the  trees  should  be  always  made  before  the  trees  are  brought  on  the 
ground.  They  should  be  somewhat  larger  and  deeper  than  those  needed  in  common 
planting  on  private  hinds,  because  it  is  desirable  to  give  the  trees  the  best  possible  oppor- 
tunity at  the  start.  The  surface  soil,  being  generally  the  best,  should  be  thrown  up  on 
one  side,  and  the  poorer  soil  from  below  on  the  other.  In  filling  in,  the  better  soil 
should  be  returned  first,  so  as  to  be  nearer  the  roots.  In  hard  clayey  soils  great  advan- 
tage is  gained  by  digging  the  holes  in  the  fall,  so  that  the  earth  may  be  exposed  to  the 
weather  through  the  winter.  The  holes  might  be  loosely  covered  with  boards  when 
necessary.  If  the  soil  be  somewhat  sterile,  a  wagon-load  of  rich  loam,  compost,  or  wood's 
earth,  placed  below  and  around  the  roots,  would  be  the  cheapest  means  for  insuring 
success.  In  applying  manures  care  should  be  taken  that  they  be  placed  below  and  near, 
but  not  in  contact  with  the  roots.  In  setting  the  tree  it  should  be  placed  a  trifle  deeper 
than  it  stood  before,  the  roots  should  be  spread  out  so  that  none  are  doubled,  and  fine 
rich  soil  should  be  carefully  sifted  in  among  them  so  as  to  fill  every  space.  Sometimes 
the  roots  are  dipped  in  a  tub  containing  a  thin  mud  of  rich  soil  before  they  are  set. 
In  any  event,  unless  the  soil  is  evidently  damp  enough,  the  trees  should  be  well  watered 
as  soon  as  they  are  planted,  and  this  process  in  dry  seasons  should  be  repeated  from  time 
to  time  through  the  first  and  second  years.  If  it  be  a  very  dry  soil,  this  watering  should 
be  continued  longer,  and  this  is  a  service  that  can  be  assigned  to  the  scholars  with  great 
propriety,  but  should  not  be  overdone.  The  soil  should  be  pressed  down  around  the 
roots  to  give  them  a  firm  hold.  In  the  light  porous  soil  of  the  prairies  it  can  scarcely  be 
too  firmly  trodden  down,  as  well  at  the  bottom  of  the  holes  before  setting,  as  on  the  top 
after  the  tree  is  planted.  The  surface  should  not  be  rounded  up  around  the  trees,  at 
least  no  more  than  to  allow  for  settling,  and  the  tree,  when  well  established,  should  have 
the  soil  around  it  on  the  level  or,  if  anything,  a  little  below  the  general  surface.  In 
shovelling  paths  in  the  snow,  it  is  well  to  heap  it  up  around  the  trees  in  winter,  to  pre- 
vent them  from  starting  prematurely  in  spring. 

The  fresh  surface  around  a  newly  planted  tree,  if  in  a  dry  climate,  should  be  mulched 
by  a  covering  of  straw,  leaves,  or  of  wood  chips,  the  last  being  always  a  proper  surface- 
dressing  around  young  trees.  If  the  soil  is  not  otherwise  covered  as  above,  it  should  be 
kept  free  from  weeds  and  grass  until  the  trees  are  well  started,  and  it  should  be  pre- 
vented from  baking  by  occasionally  raking  or  hoeing  the  surface  lightly,  especially  in  a 
dry  time.  If  the  grounds  are  naturally  wet,  they  should  be  properly  drained.  In  excep- 
tional cases,  where  irrigation  is  possible  and  the  soil  and  climate  are  of  the  arid  type, 
this  may  be  the  only  means  for  making  trees  survive. 

In  taking  up  a  tree  for  transplanting,  a  part  of  the  roots  will  necessarily  be  left  in  the 
ground.  It  is  in  many  cases  necessary  to  shorten  the  branches,  so  that  a  due  balance 


may  be  maintained  between  the  foliage  and  the  roots,  for  as  a  rule  the  trees  with  most 
vigorous  tops  are  best  supplied  with  roots.  It  will  be  necessary  to  trim  off  the  side 
branches  of  trees  planted  for  ornament  around  school-houses,  until  the  tops  are  carried 
above  reach.  It  is  often  proper  with  larger  trees  to  afford  some  shelter  to  the  trunks  thus 
exposed  to  the  sun,  by  binding  straw  around  them  or  by  placing  a  board  as  a  screen  on 
the  south  side. 

WHKKK  TO  PLANT. 

It  is  needless  to  remark  that  a  school  room  needs  an  abundance  of  fresh  air  and  suffi- 
cient light.  The  trees  planted  upon  the  grounds  around  it  should  therefore  stand  far 
enough  away  to  allow  a  free  circulation  of  the  air,  although  they  might  when  grown 
afford  a  grateful  shade.  As  a  general  rule,  even  in  the  smallest  grounds,  a  row  of  trees 
may  be  planted  in  the  street,  six  or  eight  feet  from  the  fence  line,  but  always  protected 
by  guards  and  hitching  posts,  as  already  noticed.  In  small  lots  the  corners  only  might 
admit  of  further  planting;  but  with  wider  opportunity  we  may  gain  some  effect  from 
the  grouping  of  trees,  and  upon  still  more  ample  premises,  such  as  should  always  belong 
to  academies  and  colleges,  we  may  with  great  profit  attempt  the  cultivation  of  trees  in 
considerable  variety  with  the  view  of  securing  a  pleasing  combination  of  views  and  ob- 
ject lessons  in  sylviculture.  If  there  be  outbuildings,  they  should  be  invariably  screened 
by  trees,  and  if  there  be  an  adjoining  marshy  spot,  it  should  be  covered  with  trees  or 
bushes  suited  to  the  conditions. 

It  may  sometimes  happen  that  the  owners  of  the  adjoining  lands  may  be  willing  to 
plant  the  roadsides  leading  to  the  school-house  with  an  avenue  of  trees,  or  they  may  con- 
sent to  this  being  done  by  those  interested  in  the  school  grounds  under  improvement. 
It  is  always  very  desirable  to  enlist  the  children  of  the  school  in  these  operations,  by 
their  assistance  in  the  planting  and  their  care  afterward.  Where  certain  trees  are  as- 
signed to  particular  scholars  or  to  little  committees  to  whom  their  protection  is  in- 
trusted, the  interest  thus  secured  would  not  fail  to  produc  the  happiest  effect.  The 
trees  might  be  named  in  memory  of  some  person  or  some  event  worthy  of  remembrance, 
and  the  associations  thus  created  would  not  fail  to  recall  the  pleasant  associations  that 
happy  childhood  is  sure  to  impart  to  after  life. 

As  to  the  intervals  between  the  trees  planted  in  lines,  something  will  depend  upon 
their  kinds  and  upon  the  soil,  exposure,  and  other  circumstances  of  the  place.  As  a 
general  rule,  in  grove  and  forest  planting,  a  great  many  more  trees  must  be  started  than 
we  expect  or  wish  to  have  grow  to  full  size,  and  they  must  be  thinned  out  from  time  to 
time  as  they  become  crowded.  We  thus  secure  high  and  uniform  bodies  to  the.trees,  without 
the  need  of  side  pruning.  But  in  the  case  of  trees  in  avenues,  we  cannot  do  this,  excepting 
by  sometimes  taking  out  alternate  trees.  It  is  sometimes  the  custom  to  plant  for  more 
immediate  effect  the  alternate  trees  of  some  rapidly  growing  kind,  which  tend  to  make 
the  others  grow  higher,  as,  for  example,  poplars  and  elms,  the  former  being  taken  out 
when  they  are  no  longer  wanted.  From  fifteen  to  twenty  feet  will  generally  be  found  a 
proper  interval;  but  in  the  case  of  those  with  wide  spreading  tops  thirty  feet  should  be 
allowed. 

Before  leaving  the  subject  of  methods  in  planting  we  should  not  fail  to  condemn  a 
practice  that  has  been  followed  in  certain  irrigated  districts  in  the  far  West,  in  which 
poles  of  cottonwood,  without  root  or  branch  and  sometimes  large  enough  for  telegraph 
poles,  have  been  set  along  streets  and  have  grown  to  become  trees.  In  fact,  poles 
set  for  telegraph  use  have  thus  budded  and  grown  like  Aaron's  rod  where  trees  were 
not  expected  or  desired.  Such  trees,  however,  become  hollow  in  a  few  years,  and  are 
short  lived.  The  reason  is  obvious;  for  the  branches  are  put  forth  at  some  distance 
below  the  top,  which  dries  up  and  rots  off,  leaving  a  hole  open  to  the  rains.  The  lower 
end  gives  off  roots  around  the  edge  and  sides,  but  the  middle  part  soon  rots  from  the 
absorption  of  water  until  a  hollow  space  is  formed  from  one  end  to  the  other.  A  small 
tree  would  outgrow  such  a  pole  in  a  few  years  and  survive  half  a  century  after  it  was 
dead  and  forgotten. 


WHAT  SHOULD  WE  PLANT? 

In  a  country  extending  over  such  a  length  and  breadth  as  the  United  States,  no  gen- 
eral answer  could  possibly  be  given  to  this  question,  further  than  this:  as  a  rule  we 
should  select,  especially  for  small  grounds,  the  species  that  grow  naturally  in  the  region 
about  and  which  were  found  to  be  most  hardy  and  certain  when  transplanted.  The 
deciduous  species  would  almost  always  have  preference,  except  upon  grounds  of  ample 
size,  in  which  groups  and  masses  of  evergreen  trees  might  appear  to  fine  advantage 
among  those  that  shed  their  leaves  in  autumn.  There  is  one  situation,  however,  in 
which  a  screen  of  evergreens  would  be  very  generally  proper,  viz,  for  the  concealment 
of  outhouses  and  other  unsightly  premises.  For  this  use  the  arbor  vitse,  Norway  spruce, 
or  red  cedar  in  the  North,  or  the  vines  with  evergreen  leaves  in  the  South,  would  be  most 
appropriate.  It  might  sometimes  be  worth  its  cost  for  a  neighbor  to  plant  such  a  screen 
upon  his  own  side  of  the  fence,  along  the  line  of  the  school-house  lot,  and  this  could 
scarcely  fail  of  proving  a  welcome  addition  to  plantations  upon  the  public  premises  ad- 
jacent. 

In  selecting  the  kinds  of  trees  that  should  be  planted  regard  should  be  had  to  their 
liability  to  injury  from  accident,  their  tendency  to  sprout  where  not  wanted,  the  agree- 
able or  disagreeable  odors  that  they  may  emit,  the  ornamental  character  of  their  flowers 
or  fruit,  their  longevity,  rate  of  growth,  and  other  circumstances  tending  to  make  them 
more  or  less  acceptable  in  the  places  where  they  are  to  remain.  It  is  scarcely  worth 
while  to  consider  the  value  of  their  wood,  as  trees  in  such  places  would  scarcely  ever  be 
cut  until  they  were  passing  to  decay. 

Taking  up  the  points  of  excellence  or  of  disadvantage  in  the  order  above  mentioned,  we 
will  state  some  considerations  that  deserve  notice  under  each: 

1.  Liability  to  injury  from  accident. — The  part  most  liable  to  injury  is  the  bark,  and 
wherever  any  part  of  this  covering  is  bruised  or  broken  off  the  wood  underneath  dies. 
The  wound  is  only  healed  by  growing  over  on  the  sides,  and  years  may  be  required  to 
repair  an  injury  that  can  never  be  entirely  made  good  in  the  wood  within.  While  most 
trees  are  more  liable  to  injury  while  they  are  small  and  all  of  them  are  more  easily 
peeled  in  early  summer  while  the  new  layer  of  wood  is  forming,  there  are  some  that 
acquire  greater  immunity  with  age  than  others.  Of  all  the  native  trees  of  the  Northern 
States  the  American  elm  ( Ulmus  Americana)  is  perhaps  least  liable  to  accident  from  a 
bruise  upon  the  bark;  and  there  are  few  if  any  that  should  be  more  generally  preferred. 
It  carries  its  shade  high  above  the  level  of  our  windows;  it  is  seldom  broken  or  thrown 
down  by  the  winds;  it  lives  to  a  great  age  and  grows  to  a  large  size,  and  it  presents  a 
majestic  and  graceful  outline  as  agreeable  to  the  view  as  its  spreading  canopy  is  refreshing 
in  its  shade.  The  red  or  slippery  elm  might  be  liable  to  be  peeled  by  unruly  boys,  for 
its  inner  bark,  and  should  for  this  reason  be  planted  only  upon  private  grounds. 

The  maples  are  justly  prized  as  shade  trees,  and  the  sugar  maple  ( Acer  saccharinum) 
may  perhaps  be  placed  first  on  the  list,  as  affording  a  dense  shade  and  a  graceful  oval 
outline;  but  as  we  go  west  its  growth  becomes  slower,  until  it  ceases  to  be  desirable  as 
an  ornamental  tree.  Of  the  soft  maples  (Acer  rubrum  and  A.  dasycarpum),  the  former  is 
noted  for  its  bright  red  blossoms  and  the  latter  for  the  lighter  color  on  the  underside  of  the 
leaves  and  for  its  very  rapid  growth,  but  it  is  easily  broken  by  the  winds  and  in  some 
localities  is  liable  to  injury  from  borers.  Both  of  the  soft  maples  ripen  their  seeds  early 
in  the  season,  and  should  be  sown  the  same  year.  All  of  the  maples  are  conspicuous 
in  the  declining  year  from  the  bright  coloring  of  their  autumnal  foliage.  The  box  elder 
or  ash -leaved  maple  (Negundo  aceroides),  a  nearly  allied  species,  is  a  favorite  shade-tree 
in  the  Western  States,  and  grows  well  in  the  middle  latitudes  of  the  Atlantic  States, 
but  does  not  endure  a  cold  climate. 

The  poplars  and  the  cottonwoods  (all  belonging  to  the  genus  Populus  and  forming  many 
species)  grow  rapidly,  and  some  of  them  where  other  trees  can  scarcely  be  made  to  thrive. 
The  tall  columnar  Lombardy  poplar  can  scarcely  be  recommended,  excepting  in  the 


background,  to  relieve  the  monotony  of  other  trees.  It  grows  very  rapidly,  but  is  short- 
lived. The  beech,  birches,  catalpa  (of  the  hardy  species),  oaks,  linden,  hickories,  wal- 
nuts, locust,  sycamore  (or  American  plane  tree),  chestnut,  ash  (of  several  species), 
mountain  ash,  buckeyes,  tulip-poplar,  and  many  other  trees  afford  advantages  more  or 
less  worthy  of  notice  throughout  the  Northern  States,  while  in  the  Southern  and  Pacific 
States  there  is  a  wide  range  of  choice  among  a  great  number  of  native  species. 

In  wet  places,  the  willows,  alders,  American  larch,  black  ash,  and  some  of  the  oaks  find 
an  appropriate  place,  and  we  should  not  fail  to  especially  commend  the  gray  willow  as 
particularly  valuable  as  a  wind-break  in  the  Northwest,  where  a  screen  of  this  kind 
around  the  border  of  a  school-house  lot  would  prove  a  luxury  in  winter  as  well  as  a  joy 
in  summer,  even  if  there  were  no  other  plantation  upon  the  premises.  It  does  not  re- 
quire a  wet  soil,  like  some  of  the  species;  it  grows  well  from  cuttings,  without  roots,  that 
are  simply  stuck  into  a  soil  well  prepared,  and  it  grows  rapidly  in  regions  where  many 
other  trees  cannot  be  made  to  live. 

2.  Tendency  to  sprout.— The  poplars,  willows,  locust,  ailantus,  and  some  other  kinds  of 
trees  have  the  habit  of  sending  up  sprouts  from  their  tracing  roots  at  some  distance  from 
the  trunk.     In  tracts  reserved  for  timber  growth  there  is  no  objection  to  this;  in  fact, 
it  becomes  a  valuable  means  for  their  reproduction;  but  in  ornamental  plantations  it  be- 
comes a  nuisance  that  should  sometimes  be  avoiled.     The  first  two  of  these  are  particu- 
larly liable  to  fill  water  pipes  and  wells  with  their  roots,  and  they  will  sometimes  insin- 
uate themselves  into  the  crevices  of  walls,  and  tend  to  weaken  the  foundations  of  build- 
ings, or  to  start  a  leak  in  aqueducts,  by  the  expansion  of  their  roots. 

3.  The  odors  emitted  by  trees. — The  ailantus  is  known  to  have  a  sickening  odor  when  in 
blossom.     Many  trees  are  perceptibly  fragrant  when  in  blossom.     The  pines  emit  a  res- 
inous and  the  eucalyptus  a  balsamic  odor,  which  is  reputed  to  be  healthy  and  to  most 
persons  is  agreeable. 

As  to  the  other  qualities  of  ornament,  in  flowers  and  fruit  and  the  like,  there  is  an 
unlimited  range  of  choice,  and  there  are  few  sections  of  the  country  within  the  inhab- 
ited regions  that  do  not  present  opportunities  for  cultivation  well  deserving  of  notice. 

WHEN  TO  PLANT. 

As  a  general  rule,  trees  succeed  best  when  planted  in  spring.  It  is  a  common  remark 
that  the  ' '  season  for  planting  corn "  is  a  proper  time  for  planting  generally,  and  it  is 
not  far  from  the  truth.  In  some  sections,  however,  fall  planting  has  preference,  and  in 
large  operations  about  a  month  in  spring  and  another  month  in  fall  are  given  to  the 
business.  In  the  case  of  deciduous  trees  it  may  be  broadly  stated  that  they  may  be 
transplanted  with  more  or  less  certainty  at  any  period  between  the  fall  of  the  leaves  in 
autumn  and  the  appearance  of  leaves  in  spring.  With  the  coniferous  evergreens  the 
most  vigorous  time  of  growth — just  after  the  buds  have  started — is  preferred.  In  cases 
where  the  young  trees  are  set  from  pots  or  boxes  without  disturbing  the  soil  about  the 
roots,  they  can  be  set  in  the  earth  at  any  time  when  the  ground  is  not  frozen,  but  do 
best  when  planted  in  spring. 

ABBOB  DAY. 

In  several  of  the  Western  States  they  have  what  is  properly  named  an  "arbor  day," 
sometimes  appointed  by  law  and  at  other  times  designated  by  other  authority  or  fixed 
upon  by  agreement,  to  be  wholly  devoted  to  the  planting  of  trees.  It  is  a  pleasant  and 
highly  commendable  custom,  and  has  but  the  single  disadvantage  of  sometimes  happen- 
ing on  a  day  that  proves  stormy.  If  such  an  accident  happens,  the  next  pleasant  day 
should  be  devoted  to  the  business,  and  in  all  cases  the  holes  should  be  all  previously  dug, 
so  as  to  expedite  business  and  secure  the  largest  possible  result.  In  cases  where  trees  are 
dug  up  and  their  planting  is  delayed  from  any  cause,  as  will  sometimes  unavoidably 
happen  where  they  are  sent  from  distant  nurseries,  the  roots  should  be  "heeled  in  "  by 
placing  them  in  trenches  and  lightly  covering  them  with  soil.  In  every  case  it  is  a  good 
plan  to  keep  the  roots  covered  from  the  air  as  much  as  possible  while  out  of  the  ground, 
using  cloths,  straw,  hay,  dead  leaves,  moss,  soil,  or  any  other  covering  most  convenient. 


AN  ABBOBETTTM. 

ATI  arboretum  is  a  collection  of  living  trees,  planted  in  as  great  variety  as  the  soil  and 
climate  will  permit.  The  trees  should  be  placed  in  groups,  so  that  the  oaks,  maples, 
birches,  pines,  spruces,  firs,  cedars,  &c.,  maybe  adjacent,  generally  one  of  each  species  and 
sometimes  in  great  variety,  for  in  most  of  the  cultivated  trees  many  variations  from  the 
original  form  have  been  produced  by  accident  or  have  appeared  under  cultivation.  A 
variety,  or  "sport,"  maybe  propagated  without  limit  by  grafting,  budding,  or  layers, 
but  never  forms  a  separate  species.  In  other  cases  hybrids  are  produced  by  accidental 
cross-fertilization,  but  both  hybrids  and  varieties,  where  they  bear  seeds,  tend  to  pro- 
duce plants  of  the  original  types. 

No  institution  of  learning  in  the  country,  having  grounds  sufficiently  ample,  should  be 
•without  plantations  of  this  kind,  which  should  always  be  labelled  with  their  botanical 
and  common  names.  They  are  also  of  first  importance  in  city  parks  and  public  grounds, 
and  it  is  to  be  earnestly  hoped  that  at  no  distant  day  they  may  be  found  wherever  there 
is  opportunity  in  these  places. 

COLLECTIONS. 

There  is  no  school-house  in  the  country,  whether  in  city  and  village  or  rural  district, 
which  might  not  have  at  slight  expense  an  interesting  collection  of  the  native  woods  of  the 
vicinity.  These  specimens  should  be  prepared  by  having  one  or  more  faces  planed  and 
polished  or  varnished  to  show  the  grain  of  the  wood  when  worked  to  best  advantage,  and 
another  face  simply  planed  and  left  in«its  natural  color.  There  should  be  some  portion 
of  the  bark,  and  it  would  be  still  better  if  there  were  shown  in  connection  with  the  wood 
dried  specimens  of  the  leaves  and  blossoms,  the  fruit,  and  the  resinous  or  other  products. 
Such  collections  made  up  by  the  scholars,  and  correctly  labelled,  under  the  care  of  the 
teachers,  would  become  object  lessons  of  first  importance  as  an  agency  for  instruction. 
They  would  afford  the  most  profitable  kind  of  employment  for  the  leisure  hours,  and 
might  awaken  a  love  of  close  observation  and  a  thirst  for  further  knowledge  that  would 
ripen  into  the  best  of  fruits. 

CONCLUSION. 

I  have  thus  briefly  touched  upon  some  of  the  points  that  might  be  properly  noticed 
under  the  head  of  planting  upon  school  lots  and  the  cultivation  of  a  taste  for  rural 
ornament.  The  subject  would  bear  ample  enlargement,  and  it  may  be  that  the  points 
here  presented  will  lead  to  further  thought  in  those  who  may  read  these  pages. l 

In  the  presence  of  our  rapidly  wasting  supplies,  it  must  be  evident  to  every  sensible 
person  that  something  should  be  done  to  economize  what  remains  of  our  native  forest 
products,  and  to  provide  by  seasonable  planting  for  future  wants.  It  should  be  held  as  the 
duty  and  the  privilege  of  those  having  charge  of  our  public  schools  to  set  an  example 
worthy  of  following  by  the  planting  of  their  grounds  for  the  effect  it  may  have  upon 
those  under  instruction,  aside  from  the  amenities  that  they  thus  secure  to  their  premises." 
The  scholars  now  in  their  schools  will  in  a  few  years  be  the  owners  of  the  lands  around 
them,  and  since  all  our  lands  in  most  of  the  States  belong  to  private  owners,  upon  them 
will  devolve  whatever  duties  the  necessities  of  the  future  may  impose  in  the  way  of 
planting  for  the  supply  of  future  wants. 
Respectfully  yours, 

FRANKLIN  B.  HOUGH, 

Chief  of  Forestry  Division,  Department  of  Agriculture. 
Hon.  JOHN  EATON, 

Commissioner  of  Education. 

1  Fuller  expression  of  Dr.  Hough's  views  will  be  found  in  his  various  reports  on  forestry,  published 
by  the  Department  of  Agriculture  ;  in  the  American  Journal  of  Forestry,  a  monthly  published  by 
Robert  Clarke  &  Co.,  of  Cincinnati,  which  he  edits;  and  in  the  Elements  of  Forestry,  a  manual, 
also  published  by  Clarke  &.  Co.  —  COMMISSIONER. 


TREES  AND  TREE  PLANTING, 

WITH   EXERCISES   AND   DIRECTIONS    KOU    THE 

CELEBRATION  OF  ARBOR  DAT 

PREPARED   BY 

JOHN    B.    PEASEEE, 

SUPEBINTENDEXT   CIXCIXNATI  PUBLIC   SCHOOLS, 
WITH   A  PREFACE   BY 

WARREN    HIGLEY. 


OFFICERS 

QV   THE 

OHIO  STATE  FO^ESTI^Y  fl 

KOR  1884. 


PRESIDENT, 
JUDGE  WARREN  HIGLEY. 

VICE-PRESIDENTS, 
HON.  HORACE  WILSON, 
GEN.  DURBIN  WARD, 
DR.  A.  T.  KECKELER. 

SECRETARY, 
PROF.  ADOLPH  LEUfi. 

TREASURER, 
JOHN  H.  McMAKIN. 

DIRECTORS, 


JOHN  B.  PEASLEE,  PH.  D., 
COL.  A.  E.  JONES, 
HON.  EMIL  ROTHE, 
HON.  LEO  WELTZ, 


WALDO  F.  BROWN, 
HON.  LEOPOLD  BURCKHARDT, 
DR.  FRANCIS  PENTLAND, 
I.  N.  LA  BOITEAUX. 


COMMITTEE  ON  ARBOR   DAY  EXERCISES. 
JOHN  B.  PEASLEE,  PH.  D.,  CHAIRMAN. 


HON.  EMIL  ROTHE, 
PROF.  W.  H.  VENABLE, 
HON.  LEO  WELTZ, 


DR.  FRANCIS  PENTLAND, 


COL.  A.  E.  JONES, 
REUBEN  H.  WARDER, 
WALDO  F.  BROWN. 
HON.  CHARLES  REEMELIN. 


COPYKIUHT,    1884,    BY   JOHN   B.    1'EASLEK. 


PREFACE. 


THE  subject  of  this  little  pamphlet  is  one  that  is  rapidly  rising  in 
favor  with  the  business  community  and  the  political  economists. 
From  the  attention  that  has  been  given  it  by  the  press,  and  the  facts 
disseminated  by  societies  like  ours,  the  thoughtful,  intelligent  citizen 
who  studies  the  causes  of  the  decline  in  national  resources — how  coun- 
tries once  famous  for  their  fertility  of  soil  and  salubrity  of  climate  and 
dense  population  have  become  desolate  wastes,  unfitted  for  the  habita- 
tion of  man — how  some  countries  have  checked  the  rapid  ten- 
dency to  such  desolation  and  ruin,  and  recovered  their  former  prosjx?r- 
ity — will  see  that  the  forests  played  the  most  important  part  in  these 
causes ;  that  their  denudation  was  followed  by  the  decline,  and  then 
the  destruction  of  the  national  resources,  while  their  replanting  resulted 
in  reclaiming,  and  in  renewed  production.  The  various  and  imme- 
diate uses  to  man  of  trees  and  their  products  have  caused  their  rapid 
destruction,  until  the  threatened  dearth  in  this  country  is  becoming 
alarming.  This  can  be  avoided  only  by  convincing  those  who  are 
most  directly  interested  of  the  undeniable  facts,  and  thereby  induc- 
ing the  people  to  better  protect  existing  forests,  and  to  take  early 
steps  to  plant  new  ones  for  the  benefit  of  themselves  and  of  future 
generations. 

In  a  country  like  ours,  where  the  people  own  the  land  and  where 
the  farmer  has  to  look  to  the  products  of  the  farm  for  his  income, 
it  is  a  question  with  him  of  profit  as  between  the  wood-lot  and  the 
cleared  field,  whether  the  wood  shall  remain  to  supply  the  fuel,  the 
fence  and  necessary  timber  for  home  purposes,  or  whether  it  shall  give 
place  to  the  corn-field,  the  wheat-field,  or  the  meadow.  With  good 
tillable  soil,  the  profit  is,  no  doubt,  largely  in  favor  of  the  open  field, 
especially  as  compared  with  our  native  forests  from  which  the  most 
valuable  trees  have  been  culled,  and  only  wood  of  an  inferior  quality 
left.  But  the  result  would  be  quite  different  with  a  forest  planted 
and  cared  for  according  to  the  principles  of  forestry  as  practiced  in 
Germany  and  France,  as  conclusively  appears  in  the  following 
pages.  There  is,  however,  scarcely  a  farm  of  a  hundred  acres  in 
Ohio  and  the  originally  wooded  States,  but  that  from  20  to  25  per 
cent  of  its  surface  can  be  more  profitably  devoted  to  tree  culture  than 
to  any  thing  else.  In  fact,  there  is  much  of  the  best  farming  country 
that  is  useless  for  crops,  as  the  farmer  knows,  and  yet  is  well  adapted 
to  the  growth  of  trees.  These  comparatively  useless  tracts  should  be 
planted  to  the  right  kind  of  trees,  and  the  whole  farm  thereby  made 
productive,  while  the  influence  of  such  planting  and  nurture,  in 
beautifying  the  landscape,  in  rendering  the  country  more  salubrious, 

3 


the  climate  more  equable,  the  fruit  crops  surer,  and  the  vegetable 
product  larger,  would  greatly  enhance  the  moneyed  value  of  the 
land  and  render  life  far  more  enjoyable. 

The  importance  of  forestry  has  been  recognized  by  the  govern- 
ments of  Europe  for  more  than  a  century  past.  Schools  of  forestry 
have  been  established,  and  its  principles  reduced  to  a  science.  These 
are  the  result  of  necessity.  The  widespread  destruction  of  the  forests 
so  affected  the  climate  and  productions  of  fhe  soil,  and  the  wants  and 
the  manufacturing  interests  of  the  people,  and  the  wealth  and  pros- 
perity of  the  nation,  that  the  governments  were  forced  to  legislate  and 
prevent  the  threatened  destruction  which  was  found  to  surely  folloAV 
the  complete  denudation  of  the  forests.  The  most  wholesome  effects 
have  resulted  wherever  a  system  of  forestry  has  been  introduced  and 
followed.  Unhealthy  regions  have  been  rendered  salubrious;  floods 
have  been  modified  and  partly  controlled  ;  crops  have  been  rendered 
more  certain  ;  vast  areas  of  waste-lands  have  been  forested  and  rendered 
productive  in  wood  and  timber,  whereby  large  revenues  have  been  re- 
alized, and  important  interests  subserved. 

I  know  of  no  facts  more  convincing  of  the  necessity  for  attention 
to  forestry  in  this  country  than  those  found  in  our  last  census  report, 
from  which  I  take  the  following  figures: 

PARTIAL  ESTIMATE  OF  TIIK  CONSUMPTION  OF  FOREST  PRODUCTS  AS  FUEL  i.v 

THE  UNITED  STATES  CURING  THE  CENSUS  YEAR 

ENDING  MAY  31, 1880. 


Number  of  persons  using  wood  for  domestic  fuel, . 


32,375,074 


ESTIMATED  CONSUMPTION  OF  WOOD   FOR  DOMESTIC    PURPOSES. 


Number  of  cords  for  home  use,  .          .   .    .  14 

A537,439     Value, 
1,971,813          " 
787,862           " 

358,074 
266,771 
1,157,522           " 
540,448           " 
158,208           " 

$306,950,040 
5,126,714 
1,812,083 

2,874,593 
673,692 
3,978,331 
121,681 
425,239 

In  mining  and  amalgamating  the  precious 
metals,  

In  other  mining  operations,    
In  the  manufacture  of  brick  and  tile,  .  .    . 
In  the  manufacture  of  salt      ... 

In  the  manufacture  of  wool,  

Total, 


145,778,137 

CONSUMPTION    OF    CHARCOAL. 


In  the  twenty  largest  cities— Bushels,    .    .      4,319,194      Value, 
In  manufacture  of  iron,  "  .    .    69,592,091 

In  the  production  of  precious 

metals,  .    .• " 


Total, 


74,008,972 


$321,962,373 


$521,316 
4,726,114 

29,306 
$5,276,736 


In  this  table  Ohio  is  estimated  to  consume  for  domestic  purposes, 
exclusive  of  what  is  used  in  manufactures,  8,191,543  cords  of  wood, 
with  an  estimated  value  of  $16,492,574.  Allowing  an  average  yield 
of  forty  cords  to  the  acre,  it  requires  204,788  acres  of  forest  to  supply 
the  demand  in  this  State  one  vear  for  fuel  alone. 


PREFACE.  5 

The  following  are  some  of  the  statistics  of  the  lumbering. industry 
of  the  United  States  for  the  year  ending  May  31,  1880: 

Capital  fin  ployed, $181,186,122 

Number  of  hands  employed— Males, 141,564 

•     Females, 425 

Children  and  youth, 5,907 

Value  of  logs.   ...'..••• S139,836,869 

Wages  paid  during  the  year, 31,845,974 

Feet  of  lumber  (board  measure)  produced,  .....  18,091,356,000 

Number  of  laths 1,701,788,000 

Number  of  shingles, 5,555,046,000 

Number  of  staves, 1,248,226,000 

Number  of  headings, 146,523,000 

Feet  of  spool  and  bobbin  stock  (board  measure),   .    .         34,076,000 
Value  of  all  other  products •       $2,682,668 

Total  value  of  all  products, $233,367,729 

The  lumbering  interest  of  Ohio  for  the  year  ending  May  31,  1880, 
is  estimated  as  follows: 

Capital  invested,  87,944,412;  number  of  hands  employed,  15,277; 
value  of  logs,  $8,603,127;  wages  paid  during  the  year, '$1,708.300; 
feet  of  lumber  (board  measure),  910,832000;  number  of  laths, 
50,625,000;  number  of  shingles,  24,875,000;  number  of  staves, 
214,245,000;  number  of  sets  of  headings,  25,779,000;  value  of  all 
the  lumber  products  of  Ohio  (estimated),  $13,864,460.  This,  added 
to  the  estimated  value  of  wood  used  for  domestic  purposes — to  wit, 
$8,191,543— gives  a  total  value  of  the  product  of  the  State  for  the 
census  year  of  1880,  $22,056,003;  and  this  consumption  is  rapidly 
increasing  through  the  demands  of  our  growing  population. 

A  comparison  of  the  census  returns  of  1870  and  1880  shows  a 
decrease  of  wood  lands  in  the  belt  including  latitude  37  degrees  to  40 
degrees,  through  which  runs  the.  Ohio"  River,  extending  westward 
across  the  Mississippi  River,  of  from  34  to  26  per  cent,  being  greatest 
in  Ohio  and  Indiana. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  Forestry  Congress  in  Cincinnati,  April, 
1882,  Dr.  Franklin  B.  Hough,  then  chief  of  the  Forestry  Department, 
read  a  valuable  paper  on  "Tree  Planting  by  Railroad  Companies,** 
in  which  he  says  : 

"  We  have  in  the  United  States  about  100,000  miles  of  railroads.  The 
number  of  ties  to  a  mile  range  from  2,200  to  3,000,  and  in  some  cases  as  high 
as  3.500.  If  we  assume  an  average  of  2,500  to  the  mile,  we  have  a  quarter 
of  a  billion  in  use.  They  average  eight  feet  in  length,  and  about  seven 
inches  deep  and  eight  inches  wide,  giving  the  contents  of  almost  three  cubic 
feet  apiece,  or  in  all  6,000,000  of  cords.  If  piled  cord-fashion,  they  would  form 
a  pile  four  feet  high,  eight  feet  wide,  and  4,575  miles  long.  Placed  end  to 
end,  they  would  span  the  earth  fifteen  times  at  the  equator,  or  in  one  line 
would  reach  miles  beyond  the  moon.  Taking  the  average  life  of  a  tie  at 
from  five  to  eight  years,  and  we  shall  need  from  80,000,000  to  50.000,000 
new  ties  a  year  for  maintaining  the  present  railroads  of  the  country  in  con- 
stant use.  "Allowing  500  ties  to  the  acre,  we  shall  need  to  cut  from  60,000 
to  100,000  acres  every  year  to  meet  this  demand.  To  grow  trees  to  the  size 
necessary  for  ties  will  require  an  average  of  about  thirty  years,  and  we  shall 
need,  to  keep  up  this  supply,  nearly  3,000,000  acres  of  forests,  or  about 


6  PREFACE. 

2,500  arms  for  every  hundred  miles  of  road.  This  is  equivalent  to  a  bell 
of  woodland  twelve  and  one-half  rods  wide  alung  the  road,  or  about  three 
times  the  right  of  way." 

In  a  recent  article  on  the  condition  of  our  forests  and  their  effect 
upon  the  floods  of.  1883  and  1884,  Dr.  Hough  says: 

"  Let  us  now  see  how  these  forest  supplies  stand,  and  how  the  future 
promises,  with  regard  to  their  continuance  in  the  United  Slates.  We  have 
as  our  only  data  the  census  of  different  periods;  and  the  returns  of  1880 
show  that,  of  our  States  and  Territories,  9  had  reduced  their  woodlands  to 
below  10  per  cent;  5,  to  between  10  and  20  per  cent;  8,  to  from  20  to  30 
per  cent ;  11 ,  to  from  30  to  40  per  cent ;  and  4,  to  from  40  to  50  per  cent,  when 
this  census  was  taken.  In  10  States  of  the  South  and  South-west  the  pro- 
portion was  50  per  cent  or  more,  and  in  the  whole  United  States  the  wood- 
lands occupied  35  per  cent  of  the  whole  reported  area. 

"In  Ohio  the  returns  made  by  assessors  (which  appear  to  be  very  relia- 
ble) show  the  tendencies  of  clearing  in  a  very  strong  light,  and  taking  three 
periods  for  comparison  we  get  the  following  results: 

Acres  of  Decrease  Percentage 

from  former  oi  woodland  to 

woodland.  period.  total  area. 

1&53 13,991,228  ....  55.27 

1870 9,749,333          4,241,895  38.51 

1881 4,708,247          5,041,086  22.71 

"In  1881,  601,136  acres,  or  about  3  per  cent  (not  included  in  the  wood- 
lands), were  lying  waste. 

"The  amount  of  clearing,  from  1870  to  1881,  is  shown  to  have  been  5,041,- 
083  acres,  and  at  this  rate  it  becomes  an  easy  question  to  solve  as  to  how 
long  the  remaining  4,708,247  acres  will  last.  We  have  not  figures  to  prove 
that  these  rates  of  clearing  have  been  going  on  in  the  other  states  bordering 
upon  the  Ohio  river,  or  supplying  it  by  their  drainage ;  but  the  connection 
between  this  denudation  and  the  floods  of  the  present  and  of  recent  years 
can  not  be  mistaken.  Last  year  the  damages  were  estimated  at  $60,000,000. 
There  may  have  been  less  damage  done  this  year  (although  the  flood  was 
five  feet  higher),  because  there  was  less  property  to  destroy.  In  a  letter 
from  a  friend  in  Marietta  we  are  told  that  four  hundred  houses  floated  past 
that  place  in  the  recent  flood,  which  probably  took  off  many  that  were  not 
reached  by  the  waters  before. 

''Nine  years  ago  a  million  of  dollars  or  more  of  property  was  destroyed 
at  Rochester  by  a  flood  unquestionably  occasioned  primarily  by  the  exten- 
sive clearings  in  recent  years  around  the  head  waters  of  the  Genesee  River. 
The  heavy  rains  and  warm  winds,  which  rapidly  melted  the  snows  and  sup- 
plied the  floods  on  that  occasion,  could  not  have  had  so  immediate  an  effect 
in  a  wooded  country. 

"  Passing  from  Winter  floods,  we  find  the  other  extreme  in  Summer 
droughts,  which  in  recent  years  have  become  more  frequent  and  distressing 
than  were  known  in  former  vears,  and  both  may  be  traced  unerringly  to  the 
same  cause — the  clearing-off  of  the  woodlands  which  formerly  tended  to 
equalize  these  extremes  and  maintain  a  more  uniform  flow  of  waters  through- 
out the  year." 

THE  OHIO  STATE  FORESTRY  ASSOCIATION. 

THE  origin  of  the  State  Forestry  Association,  together  with  a  brief 
history  of  the  popular  movement  that  led  to  its  organization,  may  be 
of  interest  in  this  place. 

In  November,  1881,  a  public  reception  was  given  by  the  citizens 
of  Cincinnati  to  the  von  Steubens,  while  on  their  visit  through  the 
country,  after  having  taken  part  in  the  centennial  celebration  of  the 


PREFACE.  i 

battle  of  Yorktown.  Among  them  was  Baron  Richard  von  Steuben, 
the  Royal  Chief  Forester  of  the  German  Empire,  who  made  a  most 
favorable  impression  upon  those  with  whom  he  came  in  contact  and 
deeply  interested  them  by  his  talks  on  forestry. 

In  the  early  part  of  January  following,  a  few  of  the  gentlemen  * 
who  had  been  most  active  in  this  reception,  met  in  my  office  and 
discussed,  among  other  things,  the  duties  of  the  Royal  Chief  Forester 
of  Germany  and  the  subject  of  forestry  in  general.  The  more  we 
discussed  the  greater  the  interest  became,  and  the  more,  apparent  it  was 
that  a  popular  movement  should  be  inaugurated  to  bring  the  subject 
to  the  earnest  consideration  of  the  people.  Before  we  separated  it 
was  resolved  to  call  a  meeting  of  some  of  the  public-spirited  citi- 
zens and  put  the  ball  in  motion.  Accordingly  a  committee  was 
organized,  and  for  the  next  three  mouths  the  press  of  the  country 
kid  before  the  people  the  subject  of  forestry  in  its  various  important 
aspects. 

The  work  of  the  committee  culminated  in  a  three  days'  meeting  at 
Music  Hall,  April  25th,  26th,  and  27th,  at  which  most  of  the  distin- 
guished foresters  of  this  country  and  Canada  were  present  and  read 
papers  before  the  scientific  department.  The  excellent  programme 
for  this  meeting  at  Music  Hall  was  prepared  principally  by  Dr.  John 
A.  Warder,  and  Prof  Adolph  Leue.  Governor  Foster  made  the 
address  of  welcome.  The  public  schools  were  dismissed  on  the  26th 
and  27th  to  enable  the  teachers  and  pupils  to  take  part  in  the  cele- 
bration of  tree-planting  in  the  public  parks.  The  27th  had  been  ap- 
pointed as  Arbor  Day  by  proclamation  of  the  governor.  Extensive 
preparations  had  been  made  for  its  appropriate  celebration  in  Eden 
Park.  The  city  was  in  holiday  attire.  The  soldiery  and  organized 
companies  of  citizens  formed  an  immense  procession  under  command 
of  Col.  8.  A.  Whitfield  and  marched  to  the  park,  where  the  command 
was  turned  over  to  Col.  A.  E.  Jones,  the  officer  in  charge.  The  school 
children  were  under  the  charge  of  Superintendent  Peaslee.  Fifty  thou- 
sand citizens  covered  the  grassy  slopesand  crowning  ridges,  those  assigned 
to  the  work  of  tree-planting  taking  their  respective  places.  At  the 
firing  of  the  signal  gun,  "Presidents'  Grove,"  ''Pioneers'  Grove,'* 
"  Battle  Grove,"  "  Citizens'  Memorial  Grove,"  and  "  Authors'  Grove," 
were  planted  and  dedicated  with  loving  hands  and  appropriate  cere- 
monies. Addresses  were  made  by  ex-Governor  Noyes,  Dr.  Loring, 
Cassias  M.  Clay,  Gen.  Durbin  Ward,  and  others.  No  sight  more  beau- 
tiful, no  ceremonies  more  touching,  had  ever  been  witnessed,  in  Cin- 
cinnati. An  important  lesson  in  forestry  had,  indeed,  been  brought 
home  to  the  hearts  of  the  people,  and  a  crown  of  success  was  awarded 
the  American  Forestry  Congress.  This  was  the  first  Arbor  Day 
celebration  in  Ohio.  And  thus  closed  the  first  session  of  the  Amer- 
ican Forestry  Congress,  which  embraces  in  its  scope  the  United  States 
and  Canadas. 

In  January,  1883,  the  Ohio  State  Forestry  Association,  the  out- 


*NOTE. — The  gentlemen  present  at  this  conference  Avere  Col.  W.  [..  I1" 
Beck,  Rev.  Dr.  Max  Lilienthal,  Supt.  John  B.  Peaslee,  Hon.  John  Shn}»- 
kinson,  the  tirst  president  of  the  Association,  Col.  A.  E.  Jones,  and  Hou. 


Emil  Kothe. 


8  PREFACE. 

growth  of  the  American  Forestry  Congress,  was  organized.  The  or- 
ganizers were  Dr.  John  A.  Warder,  Prof.  Adolph  Leue",  Col.  A.  E. 
Jones,  Hon.  John  Simpkinson,  Supt.  •  John  B.  Peaslee,  Gen.  Durbin 
Ward,  Hon.  Emil  Rothe,  Hon.  Leopold  Burckhardt,  D.  D.  Thomp- 
son, Prof.  R.  B.  Warder,  Prof.  Adolph  Strauch,  Dr.  A.  D.  Birchard, 
Hon.  Charles  Reernelin,  Prof.  W.  H.  Venable,  Dr.  W.  W.  Dawson, 
John  H.  McMakin,  Esq.,  myself,  and  perhaps  a  few  others.  The 
work  of  the  previous  year  was  largely  repeated.  A  convention  was 
held  in  April,  at  which  many  valuable  papers  were  read,  some  of 
which  were  printed  in  full  in. the  daily  papers. 

By  authority  of  a  joint  resolution  adopted  by  both  branches  of 
our  State  Legislature,  Governor  Foster  issued  his  proclamation,  ap- 
pointing the  fourth  Friday  in  April  as  Arbor  Day,  which  was  the  last 
day  of  our  convention.  Accordingly,  our  association  had  made  ex- 
tensive preparations  for  its  celebration  in  Eden  Park  by  the  citizens 
and  by  the  public  schools. 

I  can  give  no  better  idea  of  this  second  celebration  of  Arbor  Day 
in  Cincinnati  than  by  quoting  from  an  article  that  appeared  the  fol- 
lowing morning  in  one  of  our  leading  journals : 

"'  The  east  ridge  of  the  park  was  thronged  with  the  associations  plant- 
ing tablets  to  the  memories  of  the  Presidents  of  the  United  States,  the 
heroes  of  Valley  Forge,  and  the  pioneers  of  Cincinnati  in  their  respective 
groves,  while  the  northern  projecting  slope  of  the  ridge  was  occupied  by 
fully  seventeen  thousand  school  children  in  honoring  'Authors'  Grove.' 
Viewed  from  the  summit  of  the  ridge  immediately  west,  the  sight  was  one 
of  the  most  animating  ever  brought  before  the  eyes  of  Cincinnatians.  The 
entire  ridge,  nearly  a  third  of  a  mile  in  length,  was  occupied  by  those  per- 
sons taking  part  in  the  first-named  ceremonies,  while  the  slope  designated 
was  occupied  by  a  dense  mass  of  gayly  dressed  children  in  active  motion 
over  a  surface  of  about  five  acres,  and  whose  voices,  wafted  across  the  deep 
hollow  to  the  western  ridge,  sounded  like  the  chattering  from  a  grove  full 
of  happy  birds.  The  eastern  slope  of  the  west  ridge  was  occupied  by  three 
thousand  or  four  thousand  spectators,  who,  reclining  on  the  green  Spring 
sod  of  the  grassy  slopes,  quietly  surveyed  the  scene  from  a  distance.  In 
all,  there  were  over  twenty  thousand  persons  present.  Before  the  exercises 
commenced  a  number  of  interesting  photographic  views  were  taken  of  the 
immense  crowd,  and  others  were  taken  after  the  children  of  the  various 
schools  had  formed  their  circles  around  their  respective  trees  along  the 
slope  of  Authors'  Grove,  and  they  formed  a  picture  of  twenty-five  or  thirty 
circles  of  humanity  around  the  young  trees,  with  the  populace  massed  be- 
tween. Over  in  the  center  of  the  east  ridge  was  the  speakers'  stand,  with 
a  tall  staff  bearing  the  national  colors  rising  from  the  center,  while  smaller 
flags  marked  the  trees  dedicated  to  each  author.  The  trees  and  tablets 'in 
all  the  various  groves  had  been  previously  planted,  so  that  yesterday  was 
but  a  dedication  day  of  the  planting.  The  grove  to  the  honor  of  Cincinnati 
pioneers  had  been  planted  by  the  association,  and  yesterday  the  tablet  was 
laid  to  their  memory.  All  the  tablets  were  of  uniform  size  and  construc- 
tion, each  being  of  sandstone,  twenty-four  by  thirty-six  inches  surface,  and 
eleven  inches  depth.  That  for  the  Cincinnati  pioneers  contained  at  the 
upper  center  a  figure  of  the  primitive  log-cabin,  and  the  following  inscrip- 
tion, '  Planted  and  Dedicated  to  the  Memory  of  the  Pioneers  of  Cincinnati 
by  the  Forestry  Society.'  Below  were  cut  the  names  of  the  pioneers. 

"  'Presidents'  Grove'  bore  a  tablet  with  the  following  inscription: 
'  Presidents '  Grove,  Planted  and  Dedicated  to  the  Memory  of  the  Presi- 
dents of  the  United  States,  by  the  Forestry  Society,  1882,  Cincinnati,  April 
27th.'  Then  followed  the  names  of  all  the  twenty-one  Presidents,  down  to 
President  Arthur. 


PR  K  FACE.  9 

" '  Centennial  Grove '  was  planted  in  1876  by  Colonel  A.  E.  Jones,  from 
trees  brought  from  Valley  Forge.  The  tablet  he  had  laid  yesterday  was 
dedicated  to  the  heroes  who  served  with  Washington  at  Valley  Forge.  Fol- 
lowing is  the  inscription :  Eagle  bearing  the  scroll '  Centennial  Grove.  Ded- 
icated to  the  memory  of  1776,  and  the  patriots  who  suffered  with  Washing- 
ton at  Valley  Forge,  brought  from  that  historic  ground  and  planted  by 
A.  E.  Jones,  April  27,  1876.'  Then  followed  the  names  Washington,  Knox, 
Lafayette,  Greene,  Hamilton,  Gates,  Wayne,  Putnam,  H.  Lee,  Steuben, 
Weldin,  Muhlenburg,  Sullivan,  Stark,  Warren,  Mclntosh,  Potter,  Maxwell, 
Woodward,  Patterson,  Allen,  De  Kalb,  Kosciusko,  Marion,  C.  Lee,  Glover, 
Poor,  Lamed,  Scott,  Pulaski,  Sumter,  Lincoln,  Morgan,  Smallwood,  Eber- 
hardt. 

"  Place  was  left  upon  each  tablet  for  additional  names.  The  Forestry 
Association  planted  a  pin-oak  tree  to  the  memory  of  the  late  Adolph 
Strauch,  superintendent  of  Spring  Grove  Cemetery.  This  was  his  favorite 
tree,  and  a  year  ago  he  expressed  the  hope  that  if  any  tree  should  ever  be 
planted  to  his  memory,  it  should  be  a  pin-oak.  It  was  appropriately  draped 
in  mourning,  and  labeled.  An  imported  horse-chestnut  was  planted  to  the 
memory  of  Rev.  Dr.  Lilienthal  by  the  German  Pioneer  Association.  Both 
occupy  prominent  positions  on  the  summit  and  center  of  the  east  ridge. 

''At  eleven  o  clock  the  school  exercises  commenced  at  'Authors' 
Grove.'  These  exercises  were  outlined  by  Superintendent  Peaslee  in  the 
assignment  of  authors  to  the  respective  schools,  and  the  programmes  were 
tilled  out  by  the  principals.  The  trees  having  previously  been  planted, 
small  granite  tablets,  about  eight  inches  square,  bearing  the  name  of  the 
author  honored  and  the  date  of  the  ceremony,  were  sunk,  in  most  cases 
uniformly  with  the  surface  of  the  sod,  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  tree. 
Thus  the  exercises  were  dedicatory  only. 

"Following  was  the  order  of  the  school  exercises,  each  of  which  in- 
cluded a  sketch  of  the  author  designated,  appropriate  songs,  and  the  reci- 
tation of  selections  from  the  author's  works." 

Here  follows  a  detailed  account  of  the  part  each  school  took  in  the 
exercises. 

These  were  the  first  memorial  groves  ever  planted  in  America — the 
first  public  planting  of  trees  in  honor  of  the  memory  of  authors, 
statesmen,  soldiers,  pioneers,  and  other  distinguished  citizens. 

Superintendent  Peaslee,  as  chairman  of  the  Arbor  Day  Com- 
mittee, prepared  a  circular  addressed  to  trustees,  superintendents,  and 
teachers  of  Ohio,  requesting  them  to  celebrate  Arbor  Day  after  the 
Cincinnati  plan,  which  was  outlined  in  the  circular.  This  document 
was  sent  to  all  parts  of  Ohio,  and  to  other  States,  and  I  am  happy  to 
know  that  iu  many  places  in  Ohio  and  in  adjoining  States,  tree- 
planting  was  celebrated  according  to  this  plan.  The  entire  school  sys- 
tem of  West  Virginia,  under  the  inspiration  of  her  enterprising  State 
superintendent,  B.  L.  Butcher,  responded  to  this  sentiment,  and  cel- 
ebrated tree-planting  after  the  manner  set  forth  in  our  circular. 
One  of  the  leading  journals  of  England  has  lately  recommended  the 
introduction  of  the  Cincinnati  plan  of  tree-planting  celebrations  into 
the  public  schools  of  Great  Britain. 

There  is  a  German  proverb  which  says  "what  you  would  have  ap- 
pear in  the  nation's  life  you  must  introduce  into  the  public  schools." 

It  is  gratifying  to  know  that  the  efforts  made  in  Cincinnati  in  be- 
half of  forestry  are  duly  appreciated  abroad  by  men  distinguished 
for  their  attainments  in  forestral  science.  Prof.  Adolph  Leue,  our 
secretary,  a  scientific  forester  by  education,  sent  several  packages  (of 
100  trees  each),  of  the  Catalpd  speciota  to  different  parts  of  Europe 


10  PRKFACK. 

accompanied  with  requests  to  plant  them  on  "Arbor  Day,"  April  27, 
1882.  These  requests  were  complied  with.  Prof.  Dr.*  F.  Jndeich, 
the  celebrated  director  of  the  "Royal  Forest  Academy,"  of  Tharandt, 
Saxony — the  most  renowned  forest  academy  in  the  world — informed 
Prof.  Leue  that  the  trees  sent  by  him  were  planted  by  the  academy 
near  the  famous  grove  of  beech  known  as  "  Tharandt's  Heilige  Hul- 
len,"  and  that  the  grove  they  form  is  dedicated  to  "Cincinnati  Arbor 
Day,"  and  is  called  the  "Cincinnati  Arbor  Grove."  The  Catalpa  speti- 
o$a  is  a  purely  American  tree,  described  and  named  by  Dr.  John  A. 
Warder,  and  this  is  its  first  introduction  into  Europe. 

NECROLOGY. 

Eev.  MAX  LILIENTHAL,  D.  D.,  the  distinguished  and  eloquent 
rabbi  of  the  Mound  Street  Temple,  of  this  city,  was  among  the  first 
of  our  zealous  workers  in  the  promotion  of  the  interests  of  forestry. 
He  was  a  wise  counselor,  a  profound  scholar,  an  earnest  leader,  a  de- 
voted friend.  His  last  public  utterances  were  made  before  the  com- 
mittee which  was  then  arranging  for  the  organization  of  the  Forestry 
Congress.  •  He  died  suddenly,  in  the  Spring  of  1882,  leaving  a  va- 
cancy in  the  list  of  our  officers  ever  to  be  mourned. 

Prof.  ADOLPH  STRAUCH,  the  superintendent  of  Spring  Grove 
Cemetery,  and  the  first  man  who  introduced  the  principles  of  land- 
scape gardening,  in  the  management  of  cemeteries,  was  also  one  of 
our  most  active  officers.  Recognized  as  one  of  the  first  arboriculturists 
in  America,  and  the  man  to  whom  is  the  credit  of  giving  to  Cincin- 
nati her  renown  for  beautiful  suburbs,  with  landscapes  as  lovely  as  a 
dream,  he  was  generally  beloved.  He  died  in  April,  1883,  during  the 
session  of  our  Forestry  Association. 

DR.  JOHN  A.  WARDER,  the  honorary  president  of  our  association, 
died  at  his  beautiful  home,  at  North  Bend,  Ohio,  in  July,  1883.  His 
love  for  nature  seems  to  have  been  born  in  him.  His  early  surround- 
ings and  associations  were  powerful  allies  in  his  education  as  a  nat- 
uralist. He  read  and  studied  and  mastered  the  Book  of  Nature  in  its 
varied  teachings  as  but  few  have  mastered  it  A  seed,  a  bud,  a 
leaf,  a  plant,  a  branch,  a  tree,  a  shell,  a  rock,  attracted  his  notice 
and  elicited  investigation.  He  was  a  veritable  student  of  Nature,  and 
his  life  among  men  was  as  lovingly  beautiful  as  it  was  among  his 
plants  and  his  trees. 

His  work  in  the  great  West  for  the  encouragement  of  tree-planting, 
and  in  other  parts  of  the  country,  and  his  varied  and  extensive  writ- 
ings on  subjects  pertaining  to  forestry,  are  well  known  in  this  country 
and  in  Europe.  He  is  justly  called  the  Father  of  American  forestry. 

Kind,  generous,  loving,  hopeful,  enthusiastic,  full  of  accurate 
knowledge  which  he  was  ever  ready  to  impart,  teachable  in  spirit  and 
teaching  in  life,  he  elevated  and  blessed  his  race. 

The  forests  will  sing  his  requiem  and  future  generations  will  call 
him  blessed. 

WARREN  HIGLEY, 

President  oj   Ohio  State  Forestry  Association. 


INTRODUCTION. 


THE  time  has  come  when  the  people  of  Ohio  must  wake  up  to  the 
importance  of  preserving  our  forests  and  of  planting  trees,  or  our 
State  will  suffer  the  terrible  consequences  of  this  neglect  before  another 
half  century  has  passed  away.  Hon.  Ernil  Rothe,  who  has  given  the 
subject  much  study,  in  speaking  of  Ohio  before  the  American  Forestry 
Congress  at  Cincinnati  in  1882,  said:  "Let  the  hills  be  deprived  of 
the  rest  of  the  protection  which  the  forests  afford,  and  half  the  area 
of  our  State  will  he  sterile  in  less  than  fifty  years."  "The  wealth, 
beauty,  fertility,  and  healthfuluess  of  the  country,"  as  Whittier  justly 
says,  "largely  depend  upon  the  conservation  of  our  forests  and  the 
planting  of  trees."  How  can  these  truths  be  impressed  most  effectively 
upon  the  minds  of  our  people?  In  the  first  place,  forestry  associations 
should  be  organized  in  every  city,  town,  village,  and  country  school 
district  in  the  State,  whose  object"  shall  be  to  plant  trees  along  streets, 
by  the  road-sides,  in  parks  and  commons,  around  public  buildings,  in 
waste  places;  to  distribute  information  in  regard  to  trees  and  forests 
among  the  people,  and  to  encourage  tree-planting  in  every  way  possible. 
These  associations,  in  conjunction  with  the  schools,  should  hold  tree- 
planting  celebrations  from  year  to  year,  but  where  such  associations 
are  not  formed,  the  schools  should  conduct  the  exercises.  The  youth 
of  our  State  must  be  instructed  in  the  value  and  utility  of  forests — 
their  influence  upon  climate,  soil,  productions,  etc. — correct  sentiment 
in  regard  to  trees  must  be  implanted  in  them  if  the  best  interesta  of 
the  State  in  regard  to  forestry  are  to  be  subserved ;  and  the  most  im- 
pressive and  attractive  means  of  imparting  the  instruction,  and  of 
interesting  the  pupils  in  the  subject,  is  through  the  celebration  of 
tree-planting.  It  is  also  the  surest  and  best  way  of  calling  the  atten- 
tion of  the  people  at  large  to  it.  The  object  of  the  celebration  is  to 
instill  into  the  minds  of  children  and  older  citizens  correct  sentiments 
in  regard  to  trees,  and  to  store  their  minds  with  information  relating 
to  forestry,  and  to  the  distinguished  individuals  in  whose  honor  or 
memory  each  tree,  or  group,  is  planted,  for  we  would  have  all  the 
trees  around  which  the  celebrations  take  place  dedicated  to  great 
authors,  statesmen,  soldiers — in  brief,  to  famous  men  and  women, 
whose  lives  have  reflected  honor  upon  our  country;  to  the  pioneers 
and  distinguished  citizens  of  each  township,  village,  or  city,  as  the 
case  may  be,  and  thus  "make  trees"  as  Holmes  says,  "monuments 
of  history  and  character." 

In  every  place  where  sufficient  grounds  can  be  obtained,  either  in 
public  parks  or  elsewhere,  we  would  have  memorial  grove?  planted, 
and  the  "Arbor  Day  Celebrations"  take  place  in  them.  Lot  there  bo 
n  "  Citizens'  Memorial  Grove,"  in  which  trees  shall  be  planted  from 
year  to  year  by  loving  hands  of  the  relatives  and  friends  of  those  who 
have  died  ;  let  there  be  a  "  Pioneers'  Grove,"  in  which  all  citizen-", 

11 


12  INTRODUCTION. 

young  and  old,  shall  annually  join  iii  paying  just  tribute  to  the  mem- 
ory of  those  who  endured  the  hardships  and  privations  of  a  pioneer  life. 

"They  vanish  from  us,  one  by  one, 

In  death's  unlighted  realm  to  sleep ; 
And  O !  degenerate  is  the  son 
Who  would  not  some  memorial  keep." 

Let  there  be  an  "Authors'  Grove,"  in  which  the  school  children 
shall  honor,  by  living  monuments,  the  great  men  and  women  in  liter- 
ature, so  that  while  they  learn  to  love  and  reverence  trees  they  will, 
at  the  same  time,  become  interested  in  the  lives  and  writings  of  dis- 
tinguished and  worthy  authors.  Let  there  be  a  Soldiers'  Grove,  devoted 
to  the  memory  of  our  patriotic  dead.  Yes, 

Plant  beautiful  trees  in  honor  of  those 

Whose  memory  you  revere, 
And  more  beautiful  still  they'll  become 

With  each  revolving  year. 

And  what  monuments  the  trees,  the  monarchs  of  the  vegetable 
world,  become !  They  are  more  durable  than  marble  itself*  Their 
grandeur  will  challenge  the  admiration  of  the  beholder  when  the  coe- 
val marble  monument  at  their  base  will  lie  in  ruins,  defaced  by  age 
and  crumbling  into  dust.  Well  may  the  great  historian,  Benson  J. 
Lossing,  ask,  "What  conqueror  in  any  part  of  '  life's  broad  field  of 
battle'  could  desire  a  more  beautiful,  a  more  noble,  a  more  patriotic 
monument  than  a  tree,  planted  by  pure  and  joyous  children,  as  a 
memorial  of  his  achievements?  What  earnest,  honest  worker,  with 
hand  and  brain  for  the  benefit  of  his  fellovvmen,  could  desire  a  more 
pleasing  recognition  of  his  usefulness  than  such  a  monument,  a  symbol 
of  his  or  her  own  productions,  ever  growing,  ever  blooming,  and  ever 
bearing  wholesome  fruit?" 

Should  the  annual  celebration  of  tree-planting,  the  preparation  for 
which  affords  ample  opportunity  for  imparting  all  needful  information 
in  regard  to  trees  and  forestry,  become  general  in  our  State,  the  time 
would  not  be  far  distant  when  such  a  public  sentiment  would  be 
formed  as  would  lead  to  the  beautifying  by  trees  of  every  city,  town, 
and  village  in  O.iio,  as^well  as  public  highways,  church  and  school 
grounds,  and  the  homes  of  the  people  in  the  country.  In  truth,  within 
the  next  twenty -five  years  thereafter  the  general  aspect  of  many  parts 
of  the  State  would  be  changed  as  has  been  that  of  Connecticut  within 
the  last  few  years  through  the  instrumentality  of  her  schools  under  the 
leadership  of  Hon.  B.  G.  Northrop,  and  of  her  "  Improvement  Socie- 
ties," which  have  been  organized  through  his  efforts.  Pastor  Oberlin, 
after  whom  Oberlin  College,  of  this  State,  is  named,  required  each 
boy  and  girl,  before  he  would  administer  the  ordinance  of  confirmation, 
to  bring  a  certificate  that  he  or  she  had  planted  two  trees.  If  but  the 
youth  of  Ohio  could  be  led  to  plant  their  two  trees  each,  how  by  the 

*NOTE. — The  natural  age  of  the  oak  is  from  1,500  to  2,000  years;  of  the 
elm  from  350  to  500  years;  of  the  cypress,' 350  years;  of  the  larch,  600  years; 
of  the  yew  tree,  2,500  to  3,000  years ;  of  the  maple  from  600  to  800  years ;  of 
the  cedar,  800  years;  of  the  linden,  1,200  years.  There  are  trees  now  stand- 
ing that  are  supposed  to  be  over  5,000  years  old. 


INTRODUCTION.  13 

children  aloue  could  our  great  State  be  enriched  and  beautified  within 
the  next  fifty  years. 


Again,  the   trees  which  the  children  plant,  or  which  they  assist  in 

?  year  after  year  rolls 
the  trees  grow,  and  their  branches  expand  in  beauty,  so  will  the  love 


dedicating,  will  become  dearer  to  them  as  year  after  year  rolls  on.    As 


for  them  increase  in  the  hearts  of  those  by  whom  they  were  planted  or 
dedicated,  and  long  before  the  children  reach  old  age  they  will  almost 
venerate  these  green  and  living  memorials  of  youthful  and  happy  days; 
and  as  those  who  have  loved  and  cared  for  pets  will  ever  be  the 
friends  of  our  dumb  animals,  so  will  they  ever  be  the  friends  of  our 
forest  trees.  From  the  individual  to  the  general,  is  the  law  of  our 
nature.  Show  us  a  man  who  in  childhood  had  a  pet,  and  we  '11  show 
you  a  lover  of  animals.  Show  us  a  person  who  in  youth  planted  a  tree 
that  has  lived  and  flourished,  and  we  '11  show  you  a  friend  of  trees  and 
of  forest  culture. 

ARBOR  DAY  CELEBRATION  BY  THE  SCHOOLS. 

We  suggest  that  the  exercises  consist  of  reading,  by  the  pupils, 
compositions  or  essays  on  the  importance  and  usefulness  of  forests;  of 
reciting,  individually  and  in  concert,  selections  on  trees  from  various 
authors;  of  giving  extracts  from,  and  sketches  of,  the  life  and  writings 
of  the  particular  author  in  whose  honor  or  memory  each  tree  or  group 
is  planted;  of  singing;  of  the  ceremony  of  throwing  the  soil,  each 
pupil  in  turn,  about  the  trees;  and  of  appropriate  talks  by  trustees, 
teachers,  and  others. 

It  is  intended  to  have  the  exercises  indicated  above  take  place 
while  the  pupils  of  each  class,  room,  or  school,  as  the  case  may  be,  are 
arranged  around  their  respective  trees  or  groups.  At  the  conclusion  of 
this  part  of  the  programme,  let  all  the  pupils  come  together  and  sing 
our  national  and  other  appropriate  songs,  and  listen  to  short  addresses 
by  speakers  selected  for  the  occasion.  All  the  exercises  should  not  oc- 
cupy more  than  two  hours,  and  at  the  expiration  of  that  time  the  chil- 
dren should  be  permitted  to  enjoy  their  holiday  (within  proper  limits, 
of  course),  after  their  own  manner,  on  the  green  sod.  Thus,  "with 
the  ceremony  of  a  celebration,  and  with  the  attraction  and  pleasures 
to  the  young  minds  of  a  holiday,  the  exercises  and  what  they  symbolize 
will  be  deeply  stamped  upon  the  memory  of  the  school  children,  and 
the  entire  effect  upon  them  must  prove  to  be  of  the  most  important 
and  satisfactory  character." 

In  order  to  indicate  more  fully  the  character  and  scope  of  the 
Arbor  Day  celebrations,  we  will  here  give  a  brief  description  of  the 
celebrations  held  by  the  public  schools  of  Cincinnati  in  Eden  Park. 
For  a  fuller  detail  of  the  same  we  refer  you  to  the  last  two  annual 
reports  of  the  schools. 

About  six  acres  were  set  apart  in  the  park  for  a  grove,  now  known 
as  "Authors'  Grove."  Selections  on  trees  and  forestry  from  various 
authors  were  sent  to  the  several  schools  to  be  memorized  by  the  pupils; 
also  information  concerning  historic  trees  of  our  country,  and  many 
facts  of  history  giving  the  effects  upon  climate,  soil,  production,  etc., 
both  of  the  destruction  and  the  removal  of  forests  were  given  to  the 
scholars.  These  formed  the  basis  of  compositions  in  the  upper  grades. 


14  INTRODUCTION. 

In  addition  to  the  above,  the  teachers  gave  sketches  of  the  lives  of 
their  respective  authors,  aud  the  pupils  learned  selections  from  their 
writings.  In  some  of  the  schools  the  boys  were  organized  into  compa- 
nies, under  the  name  of  Forestry  Cadets,  or  the  "Emerson  Forestry 
Cadets"  of  Hughes  High  School,  the  "Longfellow  Forestry  Cadets" 
of  the  Eleventh  District  School,  the  "Holmes  Forestry  Cadets"  of 
the  Twenty-second  District  School;  the  girls  and  boys  not  organized 
were  called  Foresters,  as  the  "Franklin  Foresters"  of  the  Tenth  District 
School,  the  "Whittier  Foresters"  of  the  Twenty-sixth  District  School, 
and  so  on. 

That  the  part  taken  by  the  pupils  in  the  actual  planting  of  the 
trees  may  not  be  misunderstood,  I  will  state  that  experienced  tree- 
planters  did  most  of  the*  work  of  setting  out  the  trees  previous  to 
Arbor  Day,  and  that  the  pupils  finished  the  setting  by  filling  around 
each  tree  soil  left  in  heaps  fur  this  purpose. 

On  Arbor  Dav,  Authors'  Grove  was  distinguished  from  the  others 
("  Pioneers'  Grove,"  "  Battle  Grove,"  "Presidents'  Grove,"  "  Citizens' 
Memorial  Grove,"  for  the  celebration  of  tree-planting  was  going  on  at 
the  same  time  in  each  of  these  groves),  by  a  large  blue  flag,  placed 
near  the  center  of  the  grove,  and  by  small  flags  of  the  same  color 
placed  around  the  grove.  At  a  given  signal  the  pupils,  upwards  of 
seven  thousand  in  number  (at  the  celebration  last  year  there  were 
more  than  seventeen  thousand  present),  arranged  themselves,  each 
school  around  its  special  author's  tree  or  group,  and  the  exercises 
indicated  above  began. 

CELEBRATION  EXERCISES. 

In  order  to  furnish  information  to  composition  writers  aud  to 
speakers,  Part  First  of  this  pamphlet  contains  lessons  from  history 
and  other  important  facts.  We  earnestly  request  trustees,  superin- 
tendents, and  teachers  to  familiarize  the  older  pupils  under  their  charge 
with  these  facts,  whether  their  schools  celebrate  tree-planting  or  not. 

Part  Second  contains  extracts  on  trees  from  various  authors,  for 
concert  and  individual  recitation.  It  is  not  expected  that  they  will 
all  be  recited  at  one  celebration,  but  it  is  thought  best  to  give  a  large 
variety  from  which  to  select. 

It  was  our  intention  at  first  to  have  this  pamphlet  consist  of  three 
parts;  Part  Third  to  contain  sketches  of  the  lives  of  a  number  of  our 
great  authors,  and  selections  from  their  writings,  but,  after  careful 
consideration,  it  has  been  decided  not  to  add  this,  for  two  reasons. 
First,  because  it  would  make  the  pamphlet  too  large,  and,  second,  be- 
cause sketches  of  the  lives  of  our  authors  are  found  in  our  school 
readers,  and  beautiful  selections  from  their  writings  can  be  made  bj 
the  teachers  with  little  difficulty.  Of  course  the  selections  for  this 
]>art  of  the  programme  need  not  be  on  trees  or  forestry. 

JOHN  B.  PEASLEE, 

Chairman  Committee  on  Arbor  Day  Exercises. 


PART  KIRST. 


LESSONS  FROM  HISTORY, 

OTHBR 


PALESTINE. 

AT  the  time  when  Joshua  conquered  the  Promised  Laud,  milk  and 
honey  were  flowing  into  Canaan;  that  is,  it  was  a  country  of  wonderful 
fertility,  blessed  with  a  delightful  climate.  Both  ranges  of  the  Leb- 
anon and  its  Spur  Mountains  were  then  densly  covered  with  forests,  in 
which  the  famous  cedar  predominated,  that  stately  tree  so  masterly 
and  poetically  described  by  the  psalmist  and  the  prophets.  The  large 
and  continually  increasing  population  of  Palestine  enjoyed  comfort  and 
abundance  during  centuries.  But  the  gradual  devastation  of  the  for- 
ests, which  was  finally  completed  by  the  Venetians  and  the  Genoese, 
brought  about  a  general  deterioration  of  the  country.  The  hills  of  Gal- 
ilee, once  the  rich  pasturing  grounds  for  large  herds  of  cattle,  are  now 
sterile  knobs.  The  Jordan)  became  an  insignificant  stream,  and  the  sev- 
eral beautiful  smaller  rivers,  mentioned  in  the  Bible,  now  appear  as  stony 
runs,  leading  off  the  snow  and  rainwater,  but  being  completely  dry  dur- 
ing the  greater  part  of  the  year.  Some  few  valleys,  in  which  the  fer- 
tile soil  washed  down  from  the  hills,  was  deposited,  have  retained  their 
old  fertility,  but  the  few  cedar  trees  remaining  as  a  landmark  around 
the  Maronite  convent  on  the  rocky  and  barren  Lebanon,  look  lonely 
and  mournfully  upon  an  arid  and  desolate  country,  not  fit  to  sustain 
one-sixth  of  such  a  population  as  it  contained  at  the  time  of  Solomon. 

EMIL  KOTIIE. 

GERMANY. 

The  progress  made  by  Germany  in  tree  planting  is  but  a  part  of  her 
general  progress.  The  credit  is  given  to  the  great  Frederick;  it  was 
part  of  the  national  policy  of  his  day  which  raised  Prussia  from  a  small 
power  to  a  great  one,  and  to  the  energetic  continuance  of  that  policy, 
Germany  owes  Sadowa  and  Sedan.  By  this  forethought,  vast  armies 
have  been  maintained,  where  once  the  sandy  deserts  would  not  nourish  a 
flock  of  goats,  and  successive  regiments  of  hardy  soldiers  have  poured  forth 
from  the  fertile  soil  where,  two  hundred  years  ago,  the  rugged  debris 
of  winter  torrents,  the  thorn  and  the  thistle,  overspread  a  thirsty  and 
impoverished  land.  li.  w.  PIIIPPS.* 

*  NOTE.— The  articles  credited  to  Mr.  R.  W.  Phipps,  of  Toronto,  (Can- 
ada, were  taken  from  his  report  to  the  Canadian  Government  ;  those  cred- 
ited to  Hon.  Emil  Rothe,  from  the  Proceedings  of  the  American  Forestry 
Congress,  published  in  the  report  of  the  Toronto  Fruit  Growers'  Association. 
Both  of  these  reports  ate  exceedingly  valuable.  J.  H.  »•. 


TREES    AND    TREE-PLANTING. 

PROVINCE  OF  DtlBEN,  SAXONY. 

In  the  Prussian  province  of  Saxony,  the  town  of  Dlibeu  celebrates 
an  annual  festival.  The  forests  surrounding  it  had  been  recklessly 
•  cleared,  aud  the  sand  banks  which  lay  to  the  north-east  began  at  once 
to  move.  Long  tracts  of  corn  laud  were  converted  into  a  sandy  waste. 
The  waves  of  gritty  particles  began  to  overleap  the  hedges  and  over- 
flow the  gardens  under  the  walls  of  the  town.  Vegetables  became 
scarce,  pasture  for  cattle  rare,  and  the  most  serious  results  were 
feared,  when  the  forests  of  the  district  offered  to  arrest  the  desolating 
invasion. .  Fifty  years  have  elapsed  since  then.  Now,  rich  woods  of 
acacias,  birch,  and  pine  wave  over  the  sandy  hills,  and  with  their  fine 
network  of  rootlets,  hold  the  restless  sand  in  its  place  and  compel  it  to 
quiescence.  Every  year  the  citizens  of  Diiben  turn  out  with  music 
and  banners,  into  the  woods,  and  celebrate  with  great  jubilation  the 
salvation  of  their  town.  s.  BARING  GOULD. 

FRANCE. 

In  France  the  aristocrats  had  preserved  the  forests.  But  when 
Jacques  Bonhomme  had  overthrown  their  tyranny  he  proceeded  to 
destroy  the  groves  and  forests,,  and  in  a  short  time  he  succeeded  in 
almost  staying  crop  growth  in  the  fields  adjacent.  Wiser  councils 
now  prevail ;  experience  has  borne  its  fruits,  and  the  French  forests, 
particularly  near  the  sea,  bear  witness  how  rapidly  Providence  assists 
a  liberal,  how  sternly  she  repays  a  greedy  and  grasping,  cultivator. 

PHIPPS. 
SPAIN. 

Under  the  reign  of  the  Moorish  caliphs  the  Iberian  peninsula  re- 
sembled a  vast  garden,  yielding  grain  and  fruit,  of  every  known 
variety,  in  the  most  perfect  quality,  and  in  endless  abundance,  and 
thickly  populated  by  a  highly  cultivated  people.  But  then  the  sierras 
and  mountain  slopes  were  covered  with  a  luxuriant  growth  of  timber, 
which  was  afterwards  wantonly  destroyed  under  the  rule  of  the  kings. 
Large  herds  of  half- wild  goats  and  sheep  prevented  the  spontaneous 
growth  of  trees  on  the  neglected  lauds.  Now  nearly  all  the  plateau- 
lands  of  Spain,  being  fully  one-third  of  the  entire  area,  are  desert-like 
aud  unfit  for  agriculture,  because  of  the  scarcity  of  rain  and  the 
want  of  water.  Another  one-third  of  the  territory  is  covered  with 
worthless  shrubs  and  thorn-bushes,  and  affords  a  scanty  pasture  for 
the  merino  sheep,  the  number  of  which  is  decreasing  from  year  to 
year.  The  once  delicious  climate  has  become  changeable  and  rough, 
since  there  are  no  more  forests  to  break  the  power  of  the  scorching 
Salano  and  the  cold  Galego  wind.  The  average  depth  of  the  fine 
rivers  that  cross  Spain  in  all  directions  has  greatly  diminished.  The 
government,  well  aware  of  the  causes  of  the  deterioration  of  the  soil 
and  climate,  has  lately  made  earnest  efforts,  partly  to  replant  the  old 
forest  grounds,  but  has  met  with  little  success,  it  being  very  difficult  to 
make  trees  grow  on  former  timber  land,  which  has  been  lying  waste 
for  a  longer  time.  It  will  take  a  full  century's  time  and  necessitate  an 
immense  outlay  of  money  to  restock  Spain  with  sufficient  timber. 

ROTHE. 


ARBOR    DAY    EXERCISES.  17 

Spain  is  very  deficient  in  woodland.  The  evils  of  denudation  are 
perhaps  nowhere  more  signally  exemplified  thai1  in  Spain.  Rentzsh 
goes  so  far  as  to  ascribe  the  political  decadence  of  Spain  wholly  to  the 
destruction  of  the  forests.  A  school  of  forestry  has  been  lately  estab- 
lished in  Escorial.  and  good  results  from  the  training  there  may  be. 
hoped  for. — Encyclopaedia  Sritannica. 

IP   x^ 
THE  EASTERN  COAST  OF  THE  ADRIATIC  SEAT- 

rtt    7^ 

On  the  entire  eastern  coast  of  the  Adriatic  Sea,  in  Dalmatia, 
Herzegovina,  and  Montenegro,  the  same  evil  consequences  of  the  de- 
vastation of  the  natural  forests  are  clearly  perceptible.  These  coast 
lands  were  very  fertile  until  the  Romans,  having  used  up  their  o\rn 
timber,  took  it  from  the  other  side  of  the  Adriatic,  and  until  millions 
of  Illyric  trees  were  converted  into  pillars  and  rammed  into  the  lagu- 
nas  to  make  foundations  for  the  houses,  palaces,  and  churches  of 
Venice.  What  was  left  by  the  lumbermen  was  destroyed  by  the 
camp-fires  of  careless  herdsmen,  and  here  also  the  goats  did  their 
pernicious  work  in  preventing  spontaneous  growth.  The  long  moun- 
tain range  running  along  the  coast,  which  was  yet  well  timbered  in 
the  time  of  the  great  Constantino,  is  now  destitute  of  all  soil ;  the 
naked  lime-roads,  reflecting  the  hot  rays  of  the  sun,  warn  the  stranger 
not  to  enter  the  ste*rile  and  inhospitable  country,  hardly  worth  the  loss 
of  human  life  and  treasure  which  the  subjection  of  its  unruly  inhabit- 
ants now  costs  the  house  of  Hapsburg.  ROTHE. 

SICILY. 

Let  us  look  at  Sicily,  once  the  great  .grain  reservoir  for  Rome. 
Since  the  island  of  plenty  was  despoiled  of  its  forests,  it  gradually  lost 
its  fertility  and  the  mildness  of  its  climate.  The  ruins  of  proud  and 
opulent  Syracuse  lay  in  a  desert,  covered  by  sand,  which  the  hot 
sirocco  carried  over  the  Mediterranean  Sea  from  Africa.  A  few  iso- 
lated, well-watered,  and  carefully  cultivated  districts  of  very  limited 
extension,  is  all  that  is  left  to  remind  the  tourist  of  the  by-gone  glory 
of  Sicily.  ROTHE. 

PYRENEES  MOUNTAINS. 

The  desolation  of  mountain  regions  by  the  clearing  of  forests  is 
strikingly  illustrated  in  the  Pyrenees.  Formerly  the  plains  were  cul- 
tivated, and  inundations  were  much  less  frequent  and  less  destructive 
than  nowadays.  As  roads  came  to  be  opened  the  profit  from  sheep 
and  cattle  became  greater,  and  the  clearing  of  forests  was  begun  to 
make  room  for  pasturage  and,  to  some  extent,  for  timber,  until  by 
degrees  the  slopes  of  the  mountains  were  denuded,  and  the  rains,  hav- 
ing nothing  to  hinder,  began  to  form  eroding  torrents,  the  south  slopes 
suffering  most,  because  first  cleared  and  directly  exposed  to  the  sun's 
heat.  The  extremes  of  flood  and  drouth  became  excessive,  and  ex- 
tensive tracts  have  been  ruined  for  present  occupation  from  this  source. 

PHIPPS. 


18  TREES    AND    TREE-PLANTING. 

ITALY. 

When  the  Apennine  and  Sabinian  Mountain  range  and  its  slopes 
were  covered  with  its  natural  growth  of  trees,  the  now  detested  Roman 
Carapagnas,  which  constitute  the  largest  part  of  the  Pontine  swamps, 
were  a  beautiful  section  of  country.  They  were  then  adorned  with 
sumptuous  Summer  residences,  villas,  parks,  flower  and  fruit  gardens  of 
the  Roman  aristocrats.  After  the  destruction  of  the  forests,  the  whole 
region  became  unhealthy,  and  almost  absolutely  uninhabitable  on  ac- 
count of  the  malarious  gases  emanating  from  the  soil.  Formerly,  these 
were  absorbed  by  the  leaves  of  numerous  trees ;  now  they  fill  the  air 
and  infect  even  the  very  heart  of  St.  Peter's  eternal  city.  EOTHE. 

WITHIN  a  few  years  a  portion  of  these  swamps  have  been  planted 
with  eucalyptus  trees,  and  they  have  had  a  wonderful  effect  on  the 
healthfulness  of  the  atmosphere,  and  people  now  reside  in  these  parts 
during  the  Summer,  where  but  a  short  time  ago  it  was  impossible  to 
live.  The  eucalyptus  tree  is  now  being  introduced  iato  the  everglades 
of  Florida  in  order  to  purify  the  air  in  these  unhealthy  regions  of 
the  State.  J.  B.  p. 

ISLAND,  OF  ASCENSION. 

The  Island  of  Ascension  furnishes  another  Remarkable  instance. 
This  island,  some  seven  and  a  half  miles  long  and  six  wide,  was  entirely 
barren  when  first  occupied  in  1815,  and  so  destitute  of  water  that 
supplies  were  brought  from  England  and  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope. 
Means  have  since  been  taken  to  plant  trees  and  to  introduce  agricul- 
ture on  the  island,  though  not  to  any  great  extent.  The  effect  has 
been  remarkable.  The  island  grows  forty  kinds  of  trees  where  but 
one  grew  in  1843,  owing  to  want  of  water.  The  water  supply  is  ex- 
cellent, and  the  garrison  and  ships  visiting  the  Island  are  supplied  in" 
abundance  with  vegetables  of  various  kinds.  PHIPPS. 

CEYLON. 

In  his  report  to  the  Earl  of  Kimberly,  Dr.  J.  D.  Hooker,  of  the 
Royal  Kew  Gardens,  says:  "The  presence  of  forests  plays  a  most 
important  part  in  storing  the  rainfall  and  yielding  up  gradually  to  the 
streams  a  continuous  supply  of  water,  a  thing,  I  need  hardly  say,  in  a 
hot  country  of  primary  importance.  Moreover,  the  rain  is  retained 
by  forests  on  the  surface  of  the  ground ;  it  gradually  permeates  to  the 
subsoil,  and  so  feeds  the  underground  water-bearing  strata  upon  which 
springs  and  wells  must  eventually  depend.  If  the  forest  is  indiscrim- 
inately removed  the  rain  runs  off  as  it  falls,  and  washes  away  the 
superficial  and  fertile  soil  with  it.  The  mischief  already  done  in 
Mauritius  and  various  West  India  Islands  is  so  widely  spread  (being 
in  some,  indeed,  irreparable),  that  I  venture  to  press  upon  your  lord- 
ship my  own  opinion  as  to  the  urgency  of  active  steps  being  taken  in 
the  case  of  an  island  so  beautiful  and  at  present  so  fertile  as  Ceylon. 
I  have  lately  received  an  account  of  the  deterioration  of  the  climate  of 
some  of  the  Leeward  Islands,  which  affords  a  melancholy  confirma- 


ARBOR   DAY    EXERCISES.  19 

tion  of  what  I  have  urged  above.  The  contrast  between  neighboring 
islands  similarly  situated  is  most  striking.  The  sad  change  which  has 
befallen  the  smaller  ones  is  due  to  human  agency  alone.  It  is  reported 
of  these  that  in  former  times  they  were  clothed  with  dense  for- 
ests, and  their  older  inhabitants -remembered  when  the  rains  were 
abundant  and  the  hills  and  all  uncultivated  places  were  shaded  by  ex- 
tensive groves.  The  removal  of  the  trees  is  the  cause  of  the  present 
evil.  The  opening  of  the  soil  to  the  vertical  sun  rapidly  dries  up  the 
moisture.  Without  shade  upon  the  surface,  the  water  is  rapidly  ex- 
haled, and  springs  and  streams  are  dried  up." 

ST.  HELENA. 

The  Island  of  St.  Helena,  the  well-known  scene  of  Napoleon's  ban- 
ishment, furnishes  a  remarkable  illustration  of  the  connection  that 
exists  between  forests  and  rainfall.  When  first  discovered,  in  1502,  it 
had  heavy  forests.  The  introduction  of  goats,  and  other  causes, 
destroyed  these  woodlands,  until  the  island  was  almost  denuded.  The 
consequences  were  that  in  the  records  of  the  last  century  we  find  ac- 
counts of  repeated  and  almost  periodical  visitations  of  very  severe 
drought,  occasioning  various  losses  to  cattle  and  crop  eiforts.  Towards 
the  end  of  the  last  century,  however,  the  governor  saw  the  need  of 
strenuous  efforts.  Gardeners  were  sent  for,  and  trees  from  all  parts 
of  the  world  were  planted,  without  regard  to  their  character.  The 
"Piuas  Pinaster"  was  sown  very  extensively,  and  several  plantations 
of  this  still  exist.  The  consequences  of  this  were  discovered  a  few 
years  ago  as  follows:  "For  many  years  past,  since  the  general  growth 
of  our  trees,  we  have  been  preserved  from  the  scourge,  and  droughts 
such  as  were  formerly  recorded  are  now  altogether  unknown.  Our 
fall  of  rain  is  now  equal  to  that  of  England,  and  is  spread  almost 
evenly  over  the  year."  PHIPPS. 

ISLAND  OF  SANTA  CRUZ. 

The  famous  West  Indian  island  of  Santa  Cruz  is  at  the  present 
moment  suffering  from  the  vandalism  of  its  inhabitants;  its  eastern 
portion,  which  twenty-seven  years  since  was  rich,  populous,  and  of 
tropical  luxuriance,  now  deprived  of  its  forests,  has  become  dry,  arid, 
and  worthless.  It  is  found  to  be  too  late  to  retrieve  the  previous  error, 
for,  of  a  thousand  trees  recently  planted  upon  an  estate  on  this  island, 
not  one  survived.  The  facts  in  regard  to  the  island  of  Curacoa  are 
still  more  interesting :  "In  the  year  1845  it  was  found  to  be  an  almost 
perfect  desert.  Where,  according  to  the  testimony  of  the  inhabitants, 
had  once  been  a  garden  of  fertility,  abandoned  plantations,  the  recent 
ruins  of  beautiful  villas  and  terraced  gardens,  and  broad  arid  wastes, 
without  a  blade  of  grass,  showed  how  sudden  and  complete  a  destruc- 
tion had  fallen  upon  this  unfortunate  little  island.  The  cause  was  the 
cutting-down  of  the  trees  for  export  of  their  valuable  timber;  the 
effect  followed  even  more  rapidly  than  at  Santa  Cruz,  as  the  island 
lies  five  leagues  further  south,  and  the  heat  is  more  intense.  The 
rains  have  almost  entirely  ceased.  Almost  within  sight  of  Curacoa  is 


20  TREES   AND   TREE-PLANTING. 

the  coast  of  the  Spanish  main,  covered  with  the  rankest  vegetation, 
over  which  the  burdened  clouds  shower  down  abundant  blessings." 
(From  Report  of  Commissioners  of  State  Park,  New  York:  Hon.  Horatio 
Seymour,  chairman,  and  Verplank  Colvin,  secretary.* 

ALGIERS,  SAINT  JAGO  ISLAND. 

In  Algiers  marked  changes  in  the  climate  have  followed  upon  the 
deforesting  of  extensive  tracts,  and  wonderful  results  have  followed 
the  systematic  planting  of  other  regions.  The  islands  of  the  sea  have 
been  made  so  many  isolated  experimental  stations,  where  men  have 
learned  how  essential  to  health  the  forests  are ;  while  on  some  of  them 
the  conclusive  test  of  reforesting  has  been  made  with  a  return  of  show- 
ers, and  a  more  equable  distribution  of  heat  and  cold.  Saint  Jago, 
the  chief  of  the  Cape  de  Verde  Archipelago,  was,  at  its  discovery, 
clothed  with  a  forest  which  has  been  recklessly  destroyed.  Rain  is 
now  lacking  sometimes  for  a  whole  year,  a  green  leaf  can  scarcely  be 
detected  over  what  were  once  fertile  Java  plains,  while  certain  of  the 
harbors  of  the  island  have  been  filled  up  by  the  precious  soil  of  the 
island,  which  has  been  carried  down  by  the  fierce  torrents,  which, 
alternating  with  drought,  curse  this  naked  island.  Similar  results  have 
followed  the  destruction  of  forests  on  St.  Helena,  the  Mauritius,  and 
certain  of  the  Canary  Islands.  ROTHE. 

ISLAND  OF  TERNATE. 

The  effects  of  forests  upon  the  general  healthfulness  of  the  State  is 
great.  The  philosopher,  Boyle,  long  since  stated  that  in  the  Dutch 
East  Indian  island  of  Ternate,  long  celebrated  for  its  beauty  and 
healthfulness,  the  clove  trees  grew  in  such  plenty  as  to  render  their 
product  almost  valueless.  To  raise  the  price  of  the  commodity  most 
of  the  spice  forest  was  destroyed.  Immediately  the  island — previously 
cool,  healthy,  and  pleasant — became  hot,  dry,  and  sickly,  and  unfit 
for  human  residence.  It  is  well  known  that  the  general  clearing-away 
of  the  forests  in  this  country  has  had  a  tendency  to  raise  the  tempera- 
ture in  Summer. — New  York  Report  of  the  Commission  of  State  Parks. 

BUCHARIA. 

• 

Khanate  of  Bucharia  presents  a  striking  example  of  the  consequences 
brought  upon  a  country  by  clearings.  Within  a  period  of  thirty  years 
this  was  one  of  the  most  fertile  regions  of  Central  Asia,  a  country 
which,  when  well  wooded  and  watered,  was  a  terrestrial  paradise.  But 
within  the  last  twenty-five  years  a  mania  of  clearing  seized  upon  the 
inhabitants,  and  all  the  great  forests  have  been  cut  away,  while  the 
little  that  remained  was  ravished  by  fire  during  the  civil  war.  The 
consequences  were  not  long  in  following,  and  have  transformed  this 
country  into  a  kind  of  arid  desert.  The  water-courses  are  dried  up 
and  the  irrigating  canals  empty.  The  moving  sands  of  the  desert  being 
no  longer  restrained  by  barriers  of  forests  are  £very  day  gaining  upon 
the  land,  and  will  finish  by  transforming  into  a  desert  as  desolate  as 
the  solitudes  that  separate  it  from  Khiva.  PHIPPS. 


ARliOK    DAY    EXERCISES.  21 

OHIO. 

Have  you  never  tried  to  find  out  why  Southern  Ohio  has  ceased  to 
be  the  great  fruit  country  it  was  formerly  kiioivn  to  be  1  Why  is  it  that  we 
can  not  raise  any  more  peaches  in  our  State,  while  they  used  to  bring 
sure  crops  not  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago?  ***** 
What  is  it  that  makes  our  climate,  once  so  favorable  for  mankind  and 
vegetation,  more  unsteady,  from  year  to  year?  Look  at  the  woodless 
hills  of  Southern  Ohio,  and  you  have  the  answer. 

Let  the  hills  be  deprived  of  the  rest  of  the  protection  which  the 
forests  afford,  and  half  of  the  area  of  this  State  will  be  sterile  in  less 
than  fifty  years.  The  rain  will  wash  the  soil  from  the  hilltops  first, 
and  then  from  the  slopes  ;  the  limestone,  which  Is  now  covered  with 
productive  humus,  loam  and  clay,  will  be  laid  bare;  the  naked  rocks 
will  reflect  the  rays  of  the  sun  and  increase  the  Summer  heat;  the 
north  storms  will  blow  unhindered  over  the  country,  and  every  change 
of  the  wind  will  cause  an  abrupt  change  in  the  temperature.  The 
rainfall  will  be  diminished  and  become  irregular.  Snow  and  rainwater 
will  at  once  run  down  in  the  valleys  and  cause  periodical  freshets, 
which  will  ultimately  carry  away  the  best  part  of  the  soil,  even  from 
the  valleys.  Such  will  be  the  unavoidable  results  of  further  devasta- 
tion of  timber.  ROTHE. 
KENTUCKY. 

Hon.  CassiusM.  Clay,  of  Kentucky,  said  before  the  American  Forestry 
Congress  at  Cincinnati :  "I  move  in  the  sphere  of  experience  with  more 
certainty.  I  remember  when  the  forests  were  hardly  broken  here  that 
springs  of  water  were  very  frequent  and  perennial.  The  rivulets  and 
creeks  and  rivers  had  a  perpetual  flow.  These  have  now  changed.  The 
rivulets  and  creeks  are  now  dried  up  in  Summer,  and  the  fish  so  often 
caught  by  me  in  earlier  years  are  gone.  Not  one  spring  in  a  thousand 
remains.  Indian  corn  was  generally  planted  in  March,  and  the  rains 
and  exhalations  of  moisture  from  the  surroundings  made  crops  success- 
ful every  year.  Now,  the  destruction  of  the  forests  has  lost  to  us  that 
bed  of  leaves  which  was  a  perpetual  reservoir  of  water  for  springs  and 
evaporation ;  aided  by  the  treading  of  the  hard  surface,  the  rain-fall,  if 
the  same  as  of  old,  rushes  off  at  once,  sweeping  the  soil  into  the  Mis- 
sissippi delta.  The  dry  winds  absorb  not  only  the  ancient  humidity  of 
the  air,  but  drink  up  the  subsoil  evaporation,  so  that  our  Winters  are 
longer,  more  changeable,  and  unendurable.  Corn  can  hardly  be  safely 
planted  till  late  in  April,  and  drouth  too  often  ruins  all  in  spite  of 
our  best  efforts. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

Prof.  Sargent,  of  Harvard  University,  who  has  given  this  question 
as  much  study  as  any  one  in  America,  says:  "As  moderators  of  the 
extremes  of  hoat  and  cold,  the  benefits  derived  i'r.>m  extensive  forests 
are  undoubted,  and  that  our  climate  is  gradually  changing  through 
their  destruction  is  apparent  to  the  must  casual  observer.  Our 
Springs  are  later,  our  Summers  are  drier,  and  every  year  becoming 
more  so;  our  Autumns  are  carried  forward  into  Winter,  while  our 


22  TREES    AND    TREE-PLANTING. 

Winter  climate  is  subject  to  far  greater  changes  of  temperature  than 
formerly.  The  total  average  of  snowfall  is  perhaps  as  great  as  ever, 
but  it  is  certainly  less  regular  and  covers  the  ground  for  a  shorter  pe- 
riod than  formerly.  Twenty  years  ago  peaches  were  a  profitable  crop 
in  Massachusetts ;  now  we  must  depend  on  New  Jersey  and  Delaware 
for  our  supply;  and  our  apples  and  other  orchard  fruits  now  come 
from  beyond  the  limits  of  New  England.  The  failure  of  these  and 
other  crops  in  the  older  States  is  generally  ascribed  to  the  exhaustion 
of  the  soU ;  but  with  greater  reason  it  can  be  referred  to  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  forests  which  sheltered  us  from  the  cold  winds  of  the  north 
and  west,  and  which,  keeping  the  soil  under  their  shade  cool  in  Sum- 
mer and  warm  in  Winter,  acted  at  once  as  material  barriers,  and  res- 
ervoirs of  moisture." 

THE  NORTHWEST. 

"I  had  an  opportunity,"  says  Mr.  Rothe,  "to  observe  and  study 
the  results  caused  by  the  destruction  of  the  forests  in  the  Northwest. 
Thirty  years  ago  steamboats  drawing  six  feet  of  water  made  regular 
trips  on  the  Upper  Mississippi  up  to  St.  Paul.  Now  the  naviga- 
tion with  boats  of  half  that  draught  is  uncertain.  Nearly  all  the 
tributaries  of  the  Upper  Mississippi  have  also  lost  one-half,  or  even 
more,  of  their  former  supply  of  water.  Inundations  in  the  Spring  are 
now  frequent,  while  now  in  the  Summer  time  the  depth  of  many  of 
these  rivers  average  hardly  more  inches  than  could  be  measured  by 
feet  thirty  years  ago.  Water-powers,  which  were  formerly  deemed 
to  be  inexhaustible,  have  entirely  been  abandoned,  or  their  failing 
motive  power  has  been  replaced  by  steam.  In  the  remembrance  of 
the  older  settlers  the  climate  of  Wisconsin  and  Minnesota  was  remark- 
ably steady,  the  Winters  were  long  and  cold,  the  supply  of  snow  ample 
and  regular,  and  late  frosts  in  the  Spring  were  unusual.  Now  the 
inhabitants  complain  of  abrupt  changes  of  the  temperature  in  all  sea- 
sons of  the  year,  and  of  the  irregularity  of  the  snow-fall.  The  Legisla- 
ture of  Wisconsin  has  already  paid  attention  to  these  alarming  facts, 
and  has  taken  the  preservation  of  existing  forests,  and  the  establish- 
ment of  artificial  ones,  in  earnest  consideration.  By  a  resolution  re- 
cently passed,  it  asks  of  the  National  Government  the  transfer  for 
that  purpose  of  all  unsold  public  lands  to  the  State  which  are  novr 
despoiled  of  their  timber  by  thievish  lumbermen." 

ARIZONA. 

In  the  Territory  of  Arizona  an  immense  number  of  deserted  In- 
dian dwellings  carved  out  of  the  rocks  were  recently  discovered.  The 
former  inhabitants  of  the  same  must  necessarily  have  been  a  sedative 
people,  devoted  to  agriculture,  but  the  whole  district  is  now  nearly  a 
desert,  there  being  no  supply  of  water,  and  hills  as  well  as  plateaus  and 
valleys  are  dry,  stony,  and  nearly  destitute  of  vegetation.  This  can  not 
have  been  the  condition  of  that  district  when  it  was  densely  populated 
by  hundreds  and  thousands  of  Indians.  Now  the  only  plausible  solu- 
tion of  the  ethnographical  enigma  which  is  here  propounded  to  us,  is 
the  following :  The  hills  and  slopes  there  were  once  stocked  with  lum- 


ARBOR    DAY    EXERCISES.  23 

ber,  which  was  wasted  by  the  inhabitants.  The  same  deterioration  of 
the  country  gradually  took  place  which  we  notice  in  Palestine,  Greece, 
and  Scicily,  where  the  people  had  to  emigrate  to  avoid  starvation. 

But  enough  of  the  warning  examples  of  history. 

It  is  not  too  late  to  repair  all  the  damage  that  has  been  done 
in  America  by  the  devastation  of  our  natural  forests.  A  regulation  of 
the  use  of  the  timber  may  be  effected  without  any  injury  to  the  legitimate 
lumber  trade,  and  the  replanting  as  well  as  the  establishment  of  artificial 
forests,  may  undoubtedly  be  made  profitable  for  private  as  well  as  for 
public  enterprise.  If  it  is  remunerative  to  acclimatize  and  extensively 
raise  American  trees  in  Germany  and  France,  where  the  soil  is  much 
higher  in  price  than  here,  why  should  it  not  be  lucrative  to  cultivate 
them  in  those  parts  of  the  United  States  in  which  the  timber  is  scarce  and 
precious?  They  grow  quicker  here  and  to  greater  perfection  than  any- 
where else.  Nature  has  lavishly  provided  this  country  with  an  un- 
commonly large  number  of  the  most  valuable  species  of  trees.  There 
are  not  more  than  thirty-five  species  and  distinct  varieties  of  native  trees 
in  France  which  attain  a  height  of  over  thirty  feet,  not  more  than  six- 
ty-five in  Germany,  but  over  one  hundred  and  fifty  in  the  upper  part 
of  the  Mississippi  Valley  alone.  All  Europe  possesses  not  a  single  na- 
tive walnut  tree.  (The  so-called  English  walnut  is  of  Asiatic  origin.) 
We  have  nine  varieties  of  hickory  and  two  of  walnut  proper.  You  may 
search  all  the  world  over  in  vain  to  find  a  sort  of  timber  which,  in  gen- 
eral usefulness,  can  rival  our  hickory  tree.  Our  walnut  and  oak 
varieties  alone  outnumber  all  the  varieties  of  trees  native  to  France 
and  Spain. 

A  benign  nature  has  lavishly  provided  for  this  country  ;  but  does 
that  give  us  a  right  to  waste  these  blessings,  destined  for  the  human 
race  of  all  future  ages,  within  the  short  life  of  a  few  generations,  like 
spendthrifts  ?  Shall  we  adopt  the  most  detestable  motto  of  a  modern 
Sardanapalus,  "Apres  nous  feeMwgre?"— anticipate  every  thing,  and  leave 
nothing  for  those  who  will  come  after  us  ?  Will  America's  pride  bear 
the  humiliating  prospect  of  having  the  immense  work  of  culture, 
which  so  far  has  been  achieved  in  this  country  by  the  most  intelli- 
gent, independent,  progressive,  and  energetic  of  all  nations,  frus- 
trated by  the  unavoidable  consequences  of  our  greedy  mismanage- 
ment of  the  natural  resources  of  our  country  ?  Shall  the  future  of  this 
great  republic  be  made  uncertain  by  a  gradual  deterioration  of  soil 
and  climate,  or  shall  it  forever  remain  the  happy  and  comfortable 
home  of  the  free  ?  Is  not  the  care  for  future  generations  one  of  the 
most  solemn  duties  imposed  upon  us  by  laws  of  humanity  and  moral- 
ity. Are  we  worthy  to  enjoy  the  bequest  of  our  forefathers  if  we  are 
not  just  and  liberal  enough  to  provide  for  our  descendants. 

ROTHE. 

NEVADA. 

The  Nevada  Enterprise  in  speaking  of  the  effect  that  the  partial 
stripping  of  the  forests  on  the  sides  and  summits  of  the  Sierras  will 
have,  says:  "Already  one  change  has  occurred  that  is  evident  to  the 
most  ordinary  observer,  which  is  the  speedy  melting  away  of  the 
snow  on  the  mountains.  It  now  goes  off  at  once  in  a  flood,  with  the 


24  TREES  AND  TREE-PLANTING. 

first  warm  weather  of  Spring,  whereas,  formerly,  lying  shaded  and 
protected  by  the  pines  and  other  evergreen  trees,  it  melted  slowly, 
and  all  Summer  sent  down  to  the  valleys  on  both  the  eastern  and 
western  slopes  of  the  Sierras  constant  and  copious  streams  of  water. 
Instead  of  a  good  stage  of  water  in  our  streams  throughout  Summer, 
as  in  former  times,  there  is  a  flood  in  the  Spring,  and  when  this  is 
past  by,  our  rivers  speedily  run  down,  and,  being  no  longer  fed  from 
the  mountains,  evaporation  leaves  their  beds  almost  dry  when  the  hot 
weather  of  Summer  comes  on." 

FOKESTS  AND  THEIR  MANAGEMENT  IN  OTHER 
COUNTRIES. 

GERMANY. 

In  Germany  the  management  of  forests  by  the  state  has  been 
carried  on  for  hundreds  of  years,  and,  as  we  have  seen,  vast  tracts  of 
sterile  land  have  been  redeemed  by  government  forestry.  "  Here  we 
find  a  model  or  precedent  not  only  of  systematically  planting  thous- 
ands of  acres  of  trees,  but  a  general  system  of  forest  management, 
commencing  by  a  careful  survey,  stock-taking,  and  commutation  of 
all  rights;  careful  experiments  in  the  rate  of  growth;  the  best  soil  for 
each  description  of  tree;  in  fact,  in  every  branch  of  the  subject,  and 
resulting  in  what  we  find  to-day:  hundreds  of  thousands  of  acres 
mapped,  divided  into  periods  and  blocks,  and  wTorked  to  the  best  ad- 
vantage both  with  regard  to  present  and  future,  and  the  annual  yield 
of  which  now  and  for  many  years  to  come,  is  known  and  fixed  to 
within  a  few  hundred  cubic  feet.  In  Prussia  there  are  twenty  mill- 
ions of  acres  of  forests,  ten  millions  of  which  are  state  forests.  Of 
these  the  income  is  $14,000,000,  and  the  expenses  $7,500,000,  leaving 
$6,500,000  clear  profit.  When  it  is  considered  that  this  result  is  ar- 
rived at  without  trenching  on  the  capital  or  stock  of  timber  in  the 
forests,  which,  on  the  contrary,  is  being  increased  and  improved  in 
every  province  of  the  kingdom,  and  that  the  indirect  value  to  the 
people  of  many  forest  privileges,  which  they  exercise  free  of  charge, 
must  be  very  great,  not  to  mention  an  improved  climate,  some  idea 
may  be  arrived  at  of  the  enormous  value  and  benefit  such  a  system  of 
forests  must  confer  on  Prussia.  The  forests  form  part  of  the 
finance  department,  and  are  presided  over  by  an  overland-forest-mas- 
ter and  ministerial  director,  and  others.  There  are  two  forest  acade- 
mies, one  near  Berlin,  and  one  in  Hanover.  There  are  twelve  pro- 
vinces in  Prussia  divided  into  thirty  circles,  and  to  each  an  over-forest- 
master.  Next  in  order  come  the  forest-masters,  numbering  one  hun- 
dred and  eight,  in  charge  of  divisions  with  an  average  area  of  sixty 
thousand  acres,  and  then  the  executive  officers,  seven  hundred  and 
six  over-foresters,  to  each  of  whom  is  7,000  acres,  and  to  each  of  these 
is  attached  a  cash-keeper ;  and  then  there  are  8,646  foresters,  or  over- 
seers, with  ranges  of  1,000  to  3,000  acres.  At  the  forest  academy 
near  Berlin  there  are  seven  professors  with  assistants.  There  is  an 
experimental  garden  attached,  with  an  over-forester  in  charge  of  the 
technical  portion,  and  professors  for  the  meteorological,  zoological  and 


ARBOR    DAY    EXERCISES.  25 

chemical  sections.  The  varied  apparatus  includes  a  building  where 
seed  is  dried  and  separated  from  the  cones;  large  seed-bed  of 
spruce,  fir,  willow ;  full  opportunities  of  transplanting  seedlings, 
and  examples  of  every  kind  of  trer  for  botanical  study.  There  is 
also  a  museum  rich  in  specimens  of  all  sorts  of  birds,  animals,  and  in- 
sects found  in  the  forests.  In  cases  where  the  animal  or  insect  does 
damage  to  trees,  specimens  of  the  branch,  bark,  leaf,  or  cone,  in  a 
healthy  state,  and  after  being  attacked,  are  exhibited,  close  to  each, 
so  that  the  students  can  see  at  a  glance  the  nature  of  the  damage,  and 
connect  it  with  the  animal  which  causes  it.  Insects  are  shown  in  the 
several  stages  of  their  existence — larvse,  chrysalis,  caterpillar,  moth — 
with  their  ramifications  in  the  stem  or  branches  of  the  tree.  These, 
with  specimen  blocks  of  almost  all  descriptions  of  timber,  form  a  most 
instructive  collection.  There  is  a  forest  district  attached. 
In  the  national  appropriation  bill,  large  sums  are  set  apart  for  the 
purchase  of  such  lands  as  are  unfit  for  cultivation,  and  for  utilizing 
the  same  by  planting  trees."  PHIPPS. 

HANOVER. 

In  Hanover,  a  province  of  Prussia,  there  are  600,000  acres  in  the 
government  forests,  and  the  cost  of  working  and  all  expenses,  $650,- 
000  annually ;  the  receipts,  $1,500,000,  and  the  profit  $850,000.  Here 
the  steepest  and  most  rocky  sides  of  the  hills  are  all  covered  with  for- 
ests, which  have  been  created  by  the  labors  of  the  Forest  Department. 
•In  many  such  places,  where  even  the  few  handfuls  of  soil  placed  round, 
the  young  tree  had  to  be  carried  some  distance,  it  is  not  contended  that 
the  first  plantation  will  yield  a  pecuniary  profit,  but  the  improvement 
in  climate  by  the  retention  of  the  moisture,  and  the  reclamation  of 
large  tracts,  formerly  barren  and  unproductive,  is  taken  into  account ; 
besides  which  the  dropping  of  leaves  and  needles  from  the  trees  will, 
erelong,  create  a  soil  and  vegetation,  and  insure  the  success  of  planta- 
tions in  future  years.  PHIPPS. 

SAXONY. 

The  state  forests  are  nearly  400,000  acres,  worked  at  an  expense 
of  $500,000,  receiving  $1,750,000,  leaving  to  the  government  a  clear 
rental  of  81,250,000.  There  is  a  forest  academy  at  Thorandt.  The  state 
forests  of  Bavaria  are  3,000,000  acres.  They  return,  after  paying  all 
expenses,  $4,500,000  per  annum.  PHIPPS. 

AUSTRIA. 

The  state  forests  of  Austria  contain  2,000,000  acres.  The  forest 
academy  is  at  Miriabrunn,  near  Vienna.  The  collections  belonging  to 
the  academy  are  fine.  PHIPPS. 

SWITZERLAND. 

In  no  country  in  Europe  has  the  waste  of  forests  been  more  rapid 
or  destructive  than  in  Switzerland,  and  in  none,  perhaps,  has  this  im- 
providence been  followed  by  more  disastrous  results.  The  woods,  being 
considered  common  property,  were  uprooted,  and  the  soil  on  the  moun- 
tains, being  exposed  to  the  wash  of  the  rain*,  was  rapidly  carried  away, 
leaving  broad  areas  of  naked  rock,  from  which  the  water  would  at  once 


26  TREES    AND    TUBE-PLANTING. 

sweep  down  the  valleys  in  sudden  and  destructive  inundations.  The 
Autumn  of  1868  is  memorable  on  account  of  these  floods.  Public 
-attention  has,  however,  been  thoroughly  awakened,  and  active  prepa- 
rations are  in  progress  to  remedy  the  evils.  The  cantons  which  have 
charge  of  these  operations  have  for  some  time,  at  great  expense,  been 
constructing  works  to  control  the  streams  and  planting  trees.  The 
matter  is  now  in  Switzerland  taken  in  hand  by  the  national  government. 


The  forests  of  France,  under  the  management  of  a  government 
bureau,  contain  7,500,000  acres.  Of  schools  of  forestry  the  French 
have,  at  Nancy,  one  of  the  best  in  the  world,  where  pupils  are  in- 
structed both  experimentally  and  theoretically  in  all  forest-learning, 
the  collegiate  home  studies  being  constantly  varied  by  excursions  of 
parties  of  students  under  charge  of  professors  to  those  forests  where,  at 
the  time,  most  can  be  learned. 

ITALY  has  established  a  forestry  school,  near  Florence ;  Russia,  two 
forest  schools — one  at  St.  Petersburg  and  one  near  Moscow.  In  Sweden 
forest  regulations  extend  as  far  back  as  1647,  and  then  before  that 
private  owners  were  required  to  plant  and  protect  from  cattle  two  trees 
for  each  one  cut.  PHIPPS. 

DENMARK. 

Denmark  is  one  of  the  most  poorly  wooded  countries  of  Europe, 
the  percentage  of  woodland  being  now  only  4.25  of  the  whole  area. 
This  small  proportion  is  caused  chiefly  by  the  nakedness  of  the  west- 
ern part  of  Jutland,  where  the  west  winds  have  seconded  the  action 
of  man  in  destroying  the  forests.  Much  of  the  wood,  which  at  one 
time  covered  nearly  the  whole  of  Denmark,  having  been  cut  down  to 
make  way  for  agriculture,  and  to  supply  fuel  and  timber,  a  vast  area 
thus  bared  has  become  a  sandy,  heathy  desert. 

Effective  measures  are  now  taken  by  the  Danish  Government  to 
preserve  the  remains  of  the  woodland,  and  to  create  new  planta- 
tions. The  state  forest  department  permits  only  small  portions 
of  old  forests  to  be  cleared  at  a  time,  and  insists  on  simultaneous 
planting  of  an  equal  area.  The  Danish  forest  school  is  at  Copen- 
hagen, and  forms  a  branch  of  an  agricultural  college. — Encyclopedia 
Eritannica. 

HOW  MOISTURE  IS  RETAINED  BY  FORESTS. 

The  whole  forest  in  its  natural  state  forms  a  reservoir  admirably 
fitted  to  receive  large  supplies  of  moisture,  to  hold  it  for  a  lengthened 
time,  and  to  part  with  it  at  intervals  well  calculated  to  benefit  the 
vegetation  of  the  surrounding  country.  The  bed  of  the  forest  is  a 
widely  spread  surface,  piled  thick  with  leaves,  twigs,  pieces  of  fallen 
branches,  and  remnants  of  decayed  logs,  covering  another  layer  of  the 
same  substances  in  a  state  of  partial  decomposition,  overlying  yet 
another  strata  completely  decomposed, — altogether  forming  a  deep  pot 
or  hollow  framework,  penetrated  with  myriads  of  pipes,  tubes,  and 
aqueducts,  and  interspersed  with  millions  of  miniature  logs,  blocking 


ARBOR    DAY    EXERCISES.  27 

and  holding  in  position  the  flow  of  water,  until  the  humus  below  fully 
absorbs  it ;  while  the  whole  surface  of  the  earth  is  crossed,  recrossed, 
and  crossed  again  by  a  checker-work  of  partially  elevated  roots,  the 
box-like  openings  between  which  perform  the  same  function.  If  we 
go  below  the  surface,  we  shall  find  the  solid  earth  beneath  the  mass  of 
vegetable  decomposition,  pierced  everywhere  with  upright  and  porous 
pillars  of  wonderful  tubular  structure — the  large  and  perpendicular 
tap-roots  which  many  trees  possess  pass  deep  into  the  solid,  clayey 
strata,  otherwise  impermeable,  and  sending  through  the  triturated 
earth  which  surrounds  them  a  slow  and  steady  supply  of  water  to  a 
thousand  subterranean  and  spring-feeding  channels,  which,  traveling 
away  from  the  forests  and  under  the  cultivated  fields,  supply  the  great 
lower  bed  of  moisture,  that,  continually  rising,  fertilizes  the  upper 
soil.  PHIPPS. 

THE  protection  afforded  by  the  forest  against  the  escape  of  moist- 
ure from  its  soil  by  superficial  flow  and  evaporation  insures  the  per- 
manence and  regularity  of  natural  springs,  not  only  within  the  limits 
of  the  woods,  but  at  some  distance  beyond  its  borders,  and  thus 
contributes  to  the  supply  of  an  element  essential  to  both  animal  and 
vegetable  life.  As  the  forests  are  destroyed,  the  springs  which  flowed 
from  the  woods,  and,  consequently,  the  greater  water-courses  fed  by 
them,  diminish  both  in  number  aud  volume.  This  fact  is  so  familiar 
in  the  United  States  and  the  British  provinces  that  there  are  few  old 
residents  of  the  interior  of  those  districts  who  are  not  able  to  testify  to 
its  truth  as  a  matter  of  personal  observation.  My  own  recollection 
suggests  to  me  many  instances  of  this  sort ;  and  I  remember  one  case 
where  a  small  mountain  spring,  which  disappeared  soon  after  the 
clearing  of  the  ground  where  it  rose,  was  recovered  about  twenty 
years  ago  by  simply  allowing  the  bushes  and  young  trees  to  grow  up 
on  a  rocky  knoll,  not  more  than  half  an  acre  in  extent,  immediately 
above  the  spring.  The  ground  was  hardly  shaded  before  the  water 
reappeared,  and  it  has  ever  since  continued  to  flow  without  interrup- 
tion. The  hills  of  the  Atlantic  States  formerly  abounded  in  springs 
and  brooks ;  but  in  many  parts  of  these  States,  which  were  cleared  a 
generation  or  two  ago,  the  hill-pastures  now  suffer  severely  from 
drought,  and  in  dry  seasons  furnish  to  cattle  neither  grass  nor  water. 
MARSH :  "  The  Earth  as  Modified  by  Man." 

EFFECTS   OF  THE  CUTTING  OF  FORESTS  ON  WATER 
SUPPLY  OF  RIVERS. 

Upon  the  territory  of  the  commune  of  Labrugniere  (a  village  of 
France)  there  is  the  forest  of  Moutant,  containing  4,524  acres,  and 
owned  by  the  commune.  At  the  entrance  of  the  forest,  and  along 
this  brook,  will  be  found  several  fulling  mills,  each  requiring  eight- 
horse  power,  and  moved  by  water-wheels  which  work  the  belters  of 
the  machines.  The  commune  of  Labrugniere  had  long  been  noted  for 
its  opposition  to  the  forest  regulations,  and  the  cutting  of  wood,  to- 
gether with  the  abuse  of  pasturage,  had  converted  the  forest  into  an 
immense  waste,  so  that  this  great  property  would  hardly  pay  cost  of 


28  TEEES   AND   TBEE-PLANTING. 

guarding  it,  and  afford  a  meager  supply  of  wood  for  its  inhabitants. 
While  the  forest  was  thus  ruined  and  the  soil  denuded,  the  waters 
after  each  heavy  rain  swept  down  through  the  valley,  bringing  with 
them  great  quantities  of  gravel,  the  debris  of  which  still  encumber  the 
channel  of  the  stream.  The  violence  of  these  floods  was  sometimes 
so  great  that  they  were  compelled  to  stop  the  machines  for  some  time. 
But  in  the  Summer-time  another  inconvenience  made  its  appearance. 
Little  by  little  the  drought  extended,  the  flow  of  waters  became  in- 
significant, the  mills  stood  idle,  or  could  run  only  occasionally  for  a 
short  time. 

About  1840  the  municipal  authorities  began  to  inform  their  pop- 
ulation relative  to  their  true  interests,  and  under  the  protection  of 
better  supervision  the  work  of  replanting  has  been  well  managed,  and 
the  forest  is  to-day  in  successful  growth.  In  proportion  as  the  re-plant- 
ing progressed,  the  precarious  use  of  the  mills  ceased,  and  the  regu- 
lation of  the  water-courses  was  totally  modified.  They  now  no  longer 
swell  into  sudden  and  violent  floods,  compelling  the  machines  to  stop; 
but  the  rise  did  not  begin  until  six  or  eight  hours  after  the  rains 
began,  they  rose  steadily  to  their  maximum,  and  then  subsided  in  the 
same  manner.  In  short,  they  were  no  longer  obliged  to  stop  work,  and 
the  waters  were  always  enough  to  run  two  machines  and  sometimes 
three.  This  example  is  remarkable  in  this,  that  all  the  other  circum- 
stances had  remained  the  same,  and  therefore,  we  could  only  attrib- 
ute to  the  reforesting  the  changes  that  occurred,  namely,  diminution 
of  the  flood  at  the  time  of  rain  and  an  increase  in  its  flow  during 
common  times. 

M.  CANTEGRIL,  sub-inspector  of  forests,  in  Ami  des  Sciences. 

THE  RAIN  AND  FORESTS. 

There  is  nothing  of  greater  importance  to  the  agriculturist  than 
rain  at  the  proper  season  and  in  proper  quantity ;  and  science  has 
demonstrated  that  the  forests  of  a  country  are  potent  in  the  regula- 
tion of  storms,  the  formation  of  clouds,  and  the  descent  of  rain. 
Any  thing  which  vitally  affects  the  interests  of  the  farmer  and  producer 
affects  the  whole  State,  and  demands  the  earliest  attention  of  the  peo- 
ple's representatives. — New  York  Report  of  the  Commissioners  of  State 
Parks. 

FLOODS. 

The  reckless  destruction  of  forests,  so  strongly  condemned  by 
many  American  writers,  which  has  been  practiced  by  their  country- 
men, is  now  bearing  its  fruits  in  the  terrible  Spring  and  Autumn 
floods  which  of  late  years  have  affected  large  portions  of  the  United 
States.  The  Americans  might  spare  much  of  their  care  for  the 
channels  of  the  Mississippi  if  they  would  restore  the  groves  cut  from 
the  hills  which  feed  its  sources.  To  disforest  a  mountain  slope  is  to 
devote  the  height  to  barrenness,  the  valley  to  flood,  and  both  to  parch- 
ing drought  when  drought  is  most  injurious.  PHIPPS. 


ARBOR    DAY   EXERCISES.  29 

WHEREVER  the  forests  have  disappeared,  the  Spring  inundations 
of  the  rivers  have  acquired  a  frequency  unknown  before.  It  can  not 
be  disputed  that  the  terrible  destructive  effects  of  the  inundations  of 
the  Loire  and  the  Vistula,  of  late  years,  must  be  in  great  part  at- 
tributed to  the  excessive  denudation  of  the  forests. 

SCHACHT,  Professor  at  the  University  of  Bon,  "  Les  Arbres." 

IMMENSE  AMOUNT  OF  WATER  GIVEN  TO  THE  ATMOS- 
PHERE BY  TREES. 

The  amount  of  moisture  given  out  by  trees  is  immense.  In  some 
trees  the  upward  rush  of  moisture  from  the  roots  is  very  powerful. 
The  workmen  in  ship-yards  frequently  find  in  the  center  of  a  teak  log 
a  core  of  sand  fifty  or  sixty  feet  long,  an  inch  in  diameter,  and  har- 
dened to  a  marble-like  consistency,  which  has  been  carried  and  de- 
posited there  by  the  sap  in  its  upward  course. 

WASHINGTON  ELM. 

A  few. years  ago  a  number  of  scientists  of  New  England  made  a 
calculation  as  to  the  amount  of  water  given  to  the  atmosphere  by  the 
4 '  Washington  Elm/'  Cambridge,  Mass.  They  calculated  that  the 
leaves  of  that  tree  would  cover  over  200,000  square  feet  of  surface, 
and  that  they  gave  out  every  fair  day  during  the  growing  season 
15,500  Ibs.,  or  7f  tons,  of  moisture.  J.  B.  p. 

HEALTHFULNESS  OF  FORESTS. 

The  influence  of  forests  on  the  healthfuluess  of  the  atmosphere 
demands  thoughtful  attention.  Plants  imbibe  from  the  air  carbonic 
acid,  and  other  gaseous  and  volatile  products,  exhaled  by  animals  or 
developed  by  the  natural  phenomena  of  decomposition.  These  the 
trees,  more  than  the  smaller  plants,  absorb,  and  instead  of  them  pour 
into  the  atmosphere  pure  oxygen,  essential  to  the  life  of  animals.  The 
carbon,  the  very  substance  of  wood,  is  taken  from  the  carbonic  acid  thus 
absorbed.  "Humid  air,"  says  Bequerel,  "charged  with  miasmata,  is 
deprived  of  them  in  passing  through  the  forest."  R.  w.  EMERSON. 

A  MOUNTAIN  cliff,  a  wall,  or  a  forest,  are  the  natural  protection 
against  the  wind.  In  this  respect  the  forest  can  not  be  without 
beneficial  effect  on  the  adjacent  country;  the  young  growth  of  trees 
flourishes,  screened  from  the  force  of  the  wind,  the  arable  land  de- 
velops itself  better,  sands  meet  an  impassable  barrier,  and  the  noxious 
influence  of  the  dry  winds  is  turned  aside.  It  is,  then,  indisputable 
that  the  forests  exercise  a  salutary  influence  on  the  temperature  of  a 
country.  The  sanitary  condition  of  man  and  the  domestic  animals, 
as  well  as  the  growth  of  cultivated  plants,  depends  on  the  climate 
of  the  locality.  The  fertility  of  a  country  depends  on  its  supply  of 
forest  land  ;  for  on  this  depend  the  foundation  of  soil,  the  precipitation 
of  dew,  the  fall  of  rain,  the  steady  current  of  rivers,  the  mitigation 
of  the  evil  influences  of  unhealthy  winds,  and  the  growth  of  vege- 
tables in  the  fields  and  meadows.  SCHACHT. 


30  TREES    AND    TREE-PLANTING. 

To  ARREST  a  pestilence  by  quarantine,  the  State  sternly  interrupts 
trade,  travel,  and  pleasure  ;  but  the  far  greater  mortality  from  the  in- 
creasing fickleness  and  cruelty  of  our  climate  can  be  arrested  by  the 
gentlest  means.  It  is  needed  only  that  our  broad  States  shall  have 
one-fourth  or  one-fifth  of  their  surface  covered  with  trees — which,  by 
the  way,  may  be  so  distributed  as  to  increase  the  value  and  producing 
power  of  lauds.  It  is  needed  only  that  the  road  sides  shall  be  well 
planted,  that  all  hills  shall  be  fixed  forever  with  woods,  that  the  riv- 
ers shall  be  fringed  with  appropriate  species,  and  that  woods  shall  be 
wood,  in  fact,  and  not  struggling  collections  of  the  dying  monarchs  of 
the  primeval  forest.  Along  with  a  better  climate  will  come  not  only 
the  better  health  and  longer  lives,  but  forgotten  springs  will  gush 
anew  from  the  hills,  the  attenuated  streams  will  fill  their  banks  again — 
and  yield  us  a  better  fish  supply — and  will  cease  to  drown  the  val- 
leys with  floods  after  every  rain.  DANIEL  MTLLIKIN. 

MECHANISM  OF  A  TREE. 

A  tree  (and  I  beg  my  readers  to  follow  this  attempt  at  ex- 
planation'closely — all  depends  upon  it)  receives  its  nourishment  from 
the  roots.  These  correspond  to  the  mouth  in  the  human  frame.  Now, 
as  in  the  human  frame  the  nourishment  received  is,  after  being  sup- 
plied to  the  blood,  exposed  to  the  operation  of  air  in  the  lungs  before 
it  is  fit  to  give  material  to  the  body,  so  in  a  tree,  the  .nourishment 
taken  in  at  these  tree  mouths,  the  roots,  passes  to  the  lungs  of  the 
tree,  and  there,  by  contact  with  the  air,  is  rendered  fit  to  supply  fresh 
material  to  the  tree.  These  tree  lungs  are  the  leaves.  This  opera- 
tion is  affected  by  the  passage  upward  from  the  soil  around  the  roots, 
through  the  trunk,  the  branches,  and  every  twig  of  the  tree  to  the 
leaves,  of  a  large  quantity  of  water,  containing  in  solution  the  nutri- 
ment for  the  tree.  Arrived  at  the  leaves,  a  process  takes  place  which 
separates,  by  means  of  contact  with  the  air,  most  of  the  water  the 
roots  had  taken  in,  from  the  valuable  nutriment,  and  throws  off,  in 
vapor,  the  surplus  water  into  the  air.  At  this  time  certain  constitu- 
ent portions  of  the  air  are  utilized  and  mingled  with  the  nourishment 
retained.  This  is  all,  now  a  small  portion  in  comparison  with  what 
had  arisen  from  the  roots,  yet  retaining  enough  water  to  serve  as 
as  a  vehicle  back,  is  returned  toward  the  roots,  depositing  in  its  way, 
in  leaf,  bark,  and  root,  what  is  needed  there  for  the  growth  of  the 
tree.  In  these,  they  undergo,  especially  in  the  bark,  further  fitting 
and  digesting  processes  before  they  assimilate  with  the  substance  of 
the  tree.  The  water  which  was  retained  to  carry  them  down,  being 
no  longer  needed,  passes  out  at  the  roots.  ...  In  the  back  of 
the  leaf  are  numerous  stomates  or  mouths.  ...  Of  the  extent 
of  the  provision  made  for  evaporation  by  the  leaves,  some  idea  may 
be  formed  from  a  consideration  of  the  number  ofstomata  or  stomates  to 
be  found  in  the  leaves  of  plants.  The  number  varies  in  different 
plants,  for  which  variation  a  reason  may  be  found  in  the  different  con- 
ditions of  growth  to  which  they  are  subjected  in  their  several  natural 
habitats.  In  the  back  of  the  leaf  of  the  apple  tree  there  are  about 
twenty -four  thousand  stomates  to  the  square  inch.  In  the  leaf  of  the 


ARBOR    DAY    EXERCISES.  31 

lilac  there  are  a  hundred  and  sixty  thousand  of  them  to  the  square 
inch.  In  the  leaves  of  the  cherry-laurel  there  are  none  on  the  upper 
surface  of  the  leaf,  but  ninety  thousand  have  been  counted  on  the 
lower  surface.  PHIPPS. 

PROPORTIONATE  AREA  OF  WOODLAND. 

MEN  need  to  be  taught  to  plant  trees,  and  their  children  to  plant 
and  love  them.  Owners  of  good  lands  in  Maine  or  elsewhere  will  in 
the  future  learn  that  their  bleak  fields,  if  judiciously  planted  with  wood 
to  the  extent  of  40  per  cent  of  area,  will  produce  on  the  remaining 
60  per  cent  more  in  all  kinds  of  crops  than  the  whole  does  now  or 
can  be  made  to  do  under  any  other  possible  course  of  treatment. 
Lands  well  sheltered  can  and  do  produce  Winter  wheat  in  Maine  as 
well  as  on  the  new  lands  at  the  West.  In  accordance  with  this  me- 
morial, the  State  Legislature  provided  for  exemption  for  twenty  years 
from  taxation  of  all  cleared  land  on  which  forast  trees  had  been  suc- 
cessfully cultivated  for  three  years,  and  maintained  in  a  thriving  con- 
dition thereafter. — Committee  on  Agriculture. 

WHAT  portion  of  the  area  of  the  State  should  be  covered  with 
forests?  Economists  estimate  about  twenty-five  per  cent  as  a  suitable 
proportion  ;  but  this  varies  with  the  position,  physical  character,  and 
commercial  interests  of  the  country  under  consideration.  "  I  do  not 
pretend  that  the  whole  of  our  farms  should  be  planted  in  forests  trees," 
says  Hon.  H.  Gr.  Joly,  of  Quebec;  "that  would  be  absurd.  Our 
farms  are  generally  too  large  for  the  small  number  of  hands  we  employ; 
there  are  always  some  odd  corners,  idle  strips,  stony  or  damp  patches 
which  it  does  not  pay  to  cultivate.  Begin  and  plant  forest  treer  there, 
suiting  the  tree  to  the  nature  of  the  soil — you  will  find  some  for  every 
kind  of  soil.  Once  planted  and  fairly  started,  they  will  take  care  of 
themselves,  give  no  trouble,  and  increase  yearly  in  value.  If  every 
acre  of  ground  were  covered  with  valuable  crops,  one  would  try  and 
get  reconciled  to  the  absence  of  trees,  and  bow  to  the  iron  rule  of  our 
age  which  converts  every  thing  into  cash.  But  what  a  small  propor- 
tion of  all  that  ground  is  used  profitably!  We  can  find  plenty  of  spare 
room  for  growing  forest  trees ;  they  are  not  only  the  most  beautiful 
ornaments  to  a  country,  and  the  most  useful  product  of  nature,  giving 
fuel,  timber,  shade,  shelter,  retaining  moisture,  and  a  protection  against 
droughts,  etc. ,  etc. ,  but,  considering  the  question  from  a  strictly  money- 
making  point  of  view,  the  culture  of  forest  trees  is  perhaps  the  best  and 
safest  investment  that  can  be  made." 

NOTES. 

ROADSIDE   TREES. 

IN  Germany,  France,  Italy,  and  many  other  countries  of  Europe, 
as  has  been  seen,  large  forests  are  planted  annually  under  the  direct 
supervision  of  the  several  governments ;  but  besides  these  and  private 
forests,  trees  are  planted  in  great  numbers  by  the  roadsides.  At  pres- 
ent the  total  length  of  public  roads  of  France  is  18,750  miles,  of 


32  TREES   AND   TREE-PLANTING. 

which  7,250  miles  are  bordered  with  trees,  while  4,500  miles  are  at 
present  being  planted  or  will  shortly  be  planted.  On  the  remaining 
7,000  miles  the  nature  of  the  soil  does  not  admit  of  tree  growth. 
The  number  of  trees  already  planted  by  the  roadsides  in  France 
amounts  to  2,878,603,  consisting  principally  of  elm,  poplar,  acacia, 
ash,  plane,  sycamore,  and  limes.  In  Germany  many  thousands  of 
miles  of  roads  are  shaded  by  trees  ;  in  some  parts  they  are  forest  trees, 
in  others  fruit  trees.  I  regret  that  I  have  n't  the  exact  statistics. 

ALL  lovers  of  trees  should  hold  in  grateful  remembrance  the  name 
of  Hon.  James  Hillhouse,  of  New  Haven,  Connecticut,  who  beauti- 
fied that  city  by  planting  with  his  own  hand  the  elms  that  have  since 
made  it  famous. 

"  I  HAVE  always  admired,"  says  Whittier,  "  the  good  taste  of  the 
Sokoki  Indians  around  Sabago  Lake,  who,  when  their  chief  died,  dug 
around  a  beech-tree,  swaying  it  down,  and  placed  his  body  in  the  rent, 
and  then  let  the  noble  tree  fallback  into  its  original  place,  a  green 
and  beautiful  monument  for  a  son  of  the  forest." 

"PLANTING  and  pruning  trees,"  Sir  Walter  said,  "I  could  work 
at  from  morning  till  night.  There  is  a  sort  of  self-congratulation,  a 
little  tickling  self-flattery  in  the  idea  that  while  you  are  pleasing  and 
amusing  yourself  you  are  seriously  contributing  to  the  future  wel- 
fare of  the  country." 

FAMOUS  TREES. 

A  few  famous  trees  of  this  country,  not  named  in  the  extract  from  the 
letter  of  the  historian  Lossing,  are  given  here.  The  "Burgoyne  elm," 
at  Albany,  N.  Y. — This  tree  was  planted  on  the  day  the  British  gen- 
eral, Burgoyne,  was  brought  a  prisoner  into  Albany,  the  day  after  the 
surrender.  The  weeping-willow  in  Copp'sburying-ground,  near  Bunker 
Hill — This  willow,  grown  from  a  branch  taken  from  the  tree  that  shaded 
the  grave  of  Napoleon  at  St.  Helena,  now  waves  over  that  of  Cotton 
Mather,  so  noted  in  Salem  witchcraft.  Copp'sburying-ground  is  so  near 
where  the  battle  was  fought  that  a  number  of  grave-stones  can  be  seen 
to-day  which  were  pierced  through  by  bullets  fired  by  British  soldiers 
in  that  battle.  The  ash-trees  phinted  by  General  Washington  at  Mt. 
Vernon — These  ashes  form  a  beautiful  row  of  immense  trees,  which 
are  the  admiration  of  all  who  visit  the  home  of  the  "  Father  of  his 
Country."  j.  B.  P. 

THE  CARY  TREE— PLANTED  BY  ALICE  AND  PHCEBE  CARY. 

In  1832,  when  Alice  was  twelve  years  old,  and  Phoebe  only  eight, 
as  these  little  girls  were  returning  home  from  school  one  day,  they 
found  a  small  tree,  which  a  farmer  had  grubbed  up  and  thrown  into 
the  road.  One  of  them  picked  it  up,  and  said  to  the  other,  "  Let  us 
plant  it."  As  soon  as  said,  these  happy  children  ran  to  the  opposite  side 
of  the  road,  and  with  sticks — for  they  had  no  other  implement — they 
dug  out  the  earth,  and  in  the  hole  thus  made  they  placed  the  treelet; 
around  it,  with  their  tiny  hands,  they  drew  the  loosened  mold,  and 


ARBOR    DAY    EXERCISES.  33 

pressed  it  down  with  their  little  feet.  With  what  interest  they  hastened 
to  it  on  their  way  to  and  from  school,  to  see  if  it  were  growing";  and  how 
they  clapped  their  little  hands  for  joy  when  they  saw  the  buds  start 
and  the  leaves  begin  to  form  !  With  what  delight  did  they  watch  it 
grow  through  the  sunny  days  of  Summer!  With  what  anxiety  did 
they  await  its  fate  through  the  storms  of  Winter,  and  when  at  last 
the  long-looked  for  Spring  came,  with  what  feelings  of  mingled  hope 
and  fear  did  they  seek  again  their  favorite  tree ! 

But  I  must  not  pursue  the  subject  further.  It  is  enough  to  know 
that  when  these  two  sisters  had  grown  to  womanhood,  and  removed  to 
New  York  City,  they  never  returned  to  their  old  home  without  pay- 
ing a  visit  to  the  tree  that  they  had  planted,  and  that  was  scarcely 
less  dear  to  them  than  the  friends  of  their  childhood  days.  They 
planted  and  cared  for  it  in  youth  ;  they  loved  it  in  age.  That  tree  is 
the  large  and  beautiful  sycamore  which  one  sees  in  passing  along  the 
Hamilton  turnpike  from  College  Hill  to  Mt.  Pleasant,  Hamilton 
County,  Ohio.  j.  B.  p. 

"  OLD  LIBERTY  ELM." 

It  was  the  custom  of  our  New  England  ancestors  to  plant  trees 
in  the  early  settlement  of  our  country,  and  dedicate  them  to  liberty. 
Many  of  these  "liberty  trees,"  consecrated  by  our  forefathers,  are  still 
standing.  I  remember,  when  a  boy,  the  interest  I  felt  in  "  Old  Lib- 
erty Elm,"  that  then  stood  in  Boston.  That  old  tree  was  planted  by 
a  schoolmaster  long  before  the  Revolutionary  War,  and  dedicated  by 
him  to  the  independence  of  the  Colonies.  Around  that  tree,  before 
the  Revolution,  the  citizens  of  Boston  used  to  gather  to  listen  to  the 
advocates  of  our  country's  freedom ;  around  it,  during  the  war,  they 
met  to  offer  up  thanks  and  supplications  to  Almighty  God  for  the 
success  of  the  patriot  armies ;  and,  after  the  terrible  struggle  had 
ended,  the  people  were  wont  to  assemble  from  year  to  year  in  the 
shadow  of  that  old  tree  to  celebrate  the  liberty  and  independence  of 
our  country.  It  stood  there  till  within  a  few  years,  a  living  monu- 
ment of  the  patriotism  of  the  citizens  of  Boston.  The  sight  of  that 
tree  awakened  patriotic  emotions  in  every  true  Americ'an  Heart. 
And  when  at  last  that  old  tree  fell,  the  bells  in  all  the  churches  of 
Boston  were  tolled,  and  a  feeling  of  sadness  spread  over  city  and 
State.  Even  in  Ohio,  there  were  eyes  that  moistened  with  tears  when 
the  news  came  that  "  Old  Liberty  Elm"  had  fallen  in  a  storm.  Such 
was  the  veneration  in  which  it  was  held.  j.  B.  p. 

"  WASHINGTON   ELM." 

Another  of  these  "liberty  elms"  now  stands  in  Cambridge,  Mass. 
Under  the  shade  of  this  venerable  tree  Washington  first  took  com- 
mand of  the  Continental  army,  July  3,  1775.  How  the  affection  of 
every  lover  of  his  country  clings  around  that  tree!  What  care  has 
been  taken  of  it,  what  marks  of  esteem  have  been  shown  it  by  the 
citizens  of  Cambridge,  may  be  judged  by  those  who  have  seen  it 
standing,  as  it  does,  in  the  center  of  a  great  public  thoroughfare,  its 
trunk  protected  by  an  iron  fence  from  injury  by  passing  vehicles, 
which  for  more  than  a  century,  have  turned  out  in  deference  to  this 
monarch  of  the  Revolution.  J.  B.  p. 


34  TREES    ASTD   TREE-PLANTING. 

ARBOR  DAY. 

Teachers  can  easily  interest  their  pupils  in  adorning  the  school 
grounds.  With  proper  prearraugement  as  to  the  selection  and  pro- 
curing of  trees,  vines,  or  shrubs,  Arbor  Day  may  accomplish  wonders. 
Many  hands  will  make  merry,  as  well  as  light,  the  work.  Such  a 
holiday  will  be  an  attractive  occasion  of  social  enjoyment  and  im- 
provement. The  parents  should  be  persuaded  to  approve  and  patron- 
ize the  plan.  It  tends  to  fraternize  the  people  of  a  district,  when 
they  thus  meet  on  common  ground,  and  young  and  old  work  together 
for  a  common  object,  where  all  differences  of  rank,  or  sect,  or  party, 
are  forgotten.  The  plantings  and  improvements  thus  made  will  be 
sure  to  be  protected.  They  will  remain  as  silent,  but  effective  teach- 
ers of  the  beautiful  to  all  the  pupils,  gradually  improving  their  taste 
and  character.  Such  work  done  around  the  school  naturally  extends 
to  the  homes.  You  improve  the  homes  by  improving  the  schools  as- 
truly  as  you  improve  the  schools  by  improving  the  homes.  "The 
hope  of  America  is  the  homes  of  America."  It  has  long  been  my 
ambition  to  improve  the  homes  and  home-life  of  our  industrial  classes 
and  help  them  to  realize  that  the  highest  privilege  and  central  duty  of 
life  is  the  creation  of  happy  homes,  for  the  home  is  the  chief  school  of 
virtue,  the  fountain-head  of  individual  and  national  strength  and  pros- 
perity. It  is  a  worthy  ambition  to  surround  one's  home  and  children 
with  such  scenes  and  influences  as  shall  make  the  every-day  life  and 
labors  brighter  and  happier,  and  help  one  to  go  sunny  and  singing  to  his- 
work.  Our  youth  should  early  share  in  such  efforts  for  adorning  the 
surroundings  of  their  homes,  and  planting  trees  by  the  wayside.  How 
attractive  our  roads  may  become  by  long  avenues  of  trees.  This  is 
beautifully  illustrated  in  many  countries  of  Europe. 

Arbor  Day  will  become  one  of  the  institutions  of  the  country,  in 
which  our  boys  and  girls  will  take  an  eager  share  and  genuine  pleas- 
ure, and  thus  gain  a  liking  for  trees  that  will  never  be  effaced.  Ne- 
braska has  the  honor  of  originating  Arbor  Day.  Some  ten  years  ago, 
at  the  request  of  its  State  Board  of  Agriculture,  the  governor  ap- 
pointed the  second  Wednesday  in  April  as  the  day  to  be  devoted  to 
economic  tree-planting,  and  it  is  claimed  that  twelve  millions  of _  trees 
were  planted  on  that  day.  The  successive  governors  have  continued 
thus  to  recognize  this  day.  The  schools  last  Spring  adopted  the  "  Cin- 
cinnati plan"  of  planting  "memorial  trees." 

The  recent  Spring  floods  and  Summer  droughts  in  Indiana,  Ohio, 
and  elsewhere,  increasingly  and  now  alarmingly  destructive,  are  call- 
ing public  attention  to  the  cause  and  remedy  as  never  before.  The 
denudation  of  the  hills  and  mountain  sources  of  the  springs  is  the 
leading  cause  of  these  freshets,  and  these 'can  be  remedied  only  by  the 
extensive  re-foresting  of  such  lands.  This  great  result,  which  must 
be  the  work  of  time,  will  be  best  accomplished  by  interesting  the 
young,  as  well  as  the  old,  in  tree-planting.  The  Arbor  Day  in  schools- 
will  do  immense  good  in  this  direction.  We  need  to  popularize  and 
diffuse  the  sentiment  of  trees.  This  will  best  secure  their  propagation 
and  protection.  The  frequency  of  forest  fires  is  the  common  objection, 
to  economic  tree-planting.  But  let  'the  sentiment  of  trees  be  duly 


ARBOR    DAY    EXERCISES.  35- 

cultivated,  and  they  will  be  regarded  as  our  friends,  as  is  the  case  in 
Germany.  The  public  need  to  understand  that  the  interests  of  all 
classes  are  concerned  in  the  conservation  of  forests,  In  Germany,, 
Switzerland,  Sweden,  and  other  European  countries,  this  subject  is  so* 
taught  in  their  schools  that  the  people  generally  appreciate  the  value 
of  trees  and  the  need  of  protecting  them.  Hence  an  enlightened  public- 
sentiment  is  a  better  guardian  of  their  forests  thau  the  national  police- 

HON.  B.   G.   NORTHROP. 

IT  is  vital  to  the  future  welfare  of  our  people  that  the  repro- 
duction of  the  forests  should  at  once  begin,  not  on  a  small  scale  or  ira 
few  localities,  but  in  large  measures  and  co-extensive  with  our  settle- 
ments. A  broad  statesmanship,  in  our  national  and  State  Legislature,, 
should  at  once  take  up  the  subject,  and  deal  with  it  year  by  year  until, 
the  great  work  shall  be  adquately  begun. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  of  the  beneficial  influence  of  the  forest 
areas  equal  in  aggregate  to  one-fourth  or  one-third  of  the  entire  area, 
of  any  extensive  region.  But  however  important  climate  effects  may 
be  in  this  connection — however  desirable  it  may  be  that  the  crops  and 
animal  life  of  the  farm  should  enjoy  the  benefits  of  forest  influences; 
and  shelter,  the  need  of  extensive  forest  planting  is  important  enough 
without  taking  into  consideration  its  effect  on  atmospheric  movements,, 
temperature,  and  rainfall.  The  store,  the  dwelling,  the  shop,  the 
factory,  the  railroad,  the  wharf,  the  warehouse — all  these  demand 
action ;  demand  it  in  the  name  of  domestic  life;  of  farm  economy,  of 
commerce,  of  all  the  arts  of  our  civilization.  What  we  shall  save  in 
climate  by  preserving  forest  areas,  or  gain  by  their  extension,  is  just 
so  much  to  be  enjoyed  in  addition  to  other  compensations. 

DR.  JOHN  A.  WARDER. 

DESTRUCTION  OF  FORESTS  IN  OHIO. 

Ohio  was  once  supposed  to  possess  an  unfailing  supply  of  black 
walnut,  but  it  has  been  shipped  into  other  States  and  to  foreign  coun- 
tries in  such  vast  quantities  that  there  is  now  scarcely  a  first-class  tree 
of  this  kind  to  be  found  in  her  bounds.  Much  of  it  has  been  shipped. 
to  Austria.  Since  1850  Ohio  has  suffered  the  destruction  of  a  vast 
proportion  of  her  forest  area.  Between  the  years  1853  and  1870  there- 
were  cleared  over  four  million  two  hundred  thousand  acres — equal  to> 
one-sixth  of  the  entire  area  of  the  State,  and  equivalent  to  the  removal- 
of  the  timber  from  an  entire  county  each  year.  In  his  last  message 
to  the  Ohio  Legislature,  Governor  Bishop  stated  that  during  the  years 
between  1870  and  1878  over  four  million  five  hundred  thousand  acres 
of  timbered  laud  had  been  cleared,  which  was  nearly  one-half  the  en- 
tire acreage  of  1870.  To  restore  the  forests  of  the  state  to  the  condi- 
tion of  fifty  years  ago  would  require  not  less  than  two  hundred  years- 
Consequent  upon  the  destruction  'of  the  forests  many  rivers  have  be- 
come diminished,  among  which  Bryant  named  the  Cuyahoga ;  and 
from  the  same  cause — the  destruction  of  our  forests — other  streams- 
are  drying  up  in  Summer. 

DAVID  D.    THOMPSON... 


.36  TREKS    AND    TREE-PLANTING. 


HOW  TO  PLANT  TREES. 

The  following  articles  are  taken  from  the  writings  of  experienced 
tree-planters : 

SOME  THOUGHTS  AND  SUGGESTIONS  ON  TREE-PLANTING. 

One  of  the  first  and  most  important  considerations  is  the  adapta- 
tion of  the  kind  of  tree  to  the  soil  which  is  to  become  its  new  home. 
It  would  be  useless  to  plant  a  weeping  willow  or  a  swamp  cypress  on 
&  high,  dry,  and  stony  hill.  None  of  the  genera  which  naturally 
select  elevated  and  dry  localities  should  be  planted  in  low  and  swampy 
grounds.  The  constituents  of  the  soil  may  ivary  greatly,  but  the  con- 
stant supply  of  moisture  in  the  new  locality  should  vary  but  little 
from  that  in  which  the  tree  to  be  transplanted  originally  grew. 

Any  kind  of  tree  whose  stump  sprouts  freely  after  its  trunk  has 
been  cut  away  will  grow  readily  after  transplanting,  if  the  work  has 
been  properly  done  at  the  right  time.  The  stump  of  the  pine  tree, 
and  indeed  of  many  of  the  coniferse,  rarely  sprouts.  Every  one  who 
has  tried  it,  and  has  succeeded  knows  what  a  triumph  it  is  to  nurse 
into  vigorous  life  and  growth  a  pine  tree  or  a  hemlock  tree  after  trans- 
planting jt. 

The  best  time  to  plant  trees  is  in  the  Spring  before  the  buds  have 
begun  to  swell.  The  'top  and  branches  should  be  well  cut  back.  If 
this  be  done  in  the  Fall,  previous  to  transplanting,  so  much  the  better, 
as  it  saves  the  tree  much  vital  force. 

To  insure  the  growth  of  a  tree,  it  should  be  removed  with  the 
greatest  of  care,  so  as  to  keep  intact  as  many  of  the  rootlets  and  their 
terminal  spongioles  as  possible.  The  sooner  a  tree  be  planted  after  its 
removal  the  better  are  its  chances  for  growing.  Within  certain  limits 
the  smaller  the  tree  and  the  larger  the  root  the  surer  is  it  to  grow. 

The  place  a  tree  is  to  be  set  should  be  thoroughly  prepared  by  spad- 
ing up  the  soil  to  the  depth  of  two  feet  or  more  ;*  then  filling  up  with 
loose,  rich  soil  to  the  proper  height.  The  tree  may  now  be  set  into  the 
place  prepared  for  it.  The  surface  of  the  fine  soil  upon  which  you  set 
the  tree  should  be  adapted  to  the  inequality  of  the  roots,  so  that  the 
tree  will  stand  erect  and  alone.  "While  the  fine  soil  is  being  sifted  upon 
the  roots,  the  tree  should  be  churned  up  and  down  with  a  gentle  mo- 
tion, so  there  be  left  no  empty  space  under  and  around  the  roots.  A 
pail  of  water  should  now  be  poured  on  the  soil  about  the  roots  (this 
should  be  done  with  watering  can  or  sprinkler),  so  as  to  insure  their 
close  embrace  and  to  afford  some  food  for  the  fasting  tree. 

The  soil  should  not  be  heaped  up  around  the  tree,  but  pressed  down, 
but  not  too  firmly,  to  the  level  of  the  surrounding  surface. 

The  ash,  the  oak,  the  chestnut,  the  hickory,  the  walnut  (black 
and  white),  the  maple,  and  the  tulip  all  respond  readily  to  the  above 
treatment.  A.  D.  BINKERD,  M.  D. 


*NOTE. — In  sandy  soil  or  in  drained  ground  this  will  do,  but  in  clayey 
soil  the  hole  must  not  be  dug  too  deep,  as  it  forms  a  reservoir  of  water 
which  will  often  kill  the  tree. 


ARBOR    DAY    EXERCISES.  37 

TRANSPLANTING  TREES. 

Nearly  every  one  who  lives  in  the  country  at  some  time  plants 
trees,  but  how  few  know  just  how  to  do  it  properly! 

At  the  outset  it  is  necessary  to  bear  in  mind  that  the  tree  is  a 
living  body,  and  that  the  process  of  removal  interferes  with  its  func- 
tions, and  when  it  is  displaced  from  the  ground,  causing  an  arrest  of 
the  circulation  that  is  constantly  going  on  between  the  tree  and  the 
soil,  a  severe  shock  is  sustained.  Every  root-fiber  destroyed  lessens, 
by  so  much  the  chances  of  success,  and  when  a  greater  portion  of 
these  are  gone,  the  tree  is  forced  to  depend  on  its  own  vitality  to  sup- 
ply a  new  set  of  rootlets  before  growth  can  take  place. 

In  the  beginning  bear  in  mind  that  it  is  important  not  to  injure  the 
roots  and  to  preserve  as  many  as  possible,  particularly  the  small  ones, 
for  these  are  what  must  be  depended  on  to  start  the  growth  in  the  ne\v 
life.  Where  trees  are  dug  up  to  be  removed  a  short  distance,  preserve 
all  the  roots  if  possible. 

When  the  tree  is  out  of  the  ground,  exposure  to  the  sun  or  drying 
winds  will  cause  evaporation,  which  is  very  detrimental  to  the  tree,  and 
is  a  common  cause  of  failure,  and  one  which  is  often  overlooked.  If, 
however,  the  tree  has  become  shriveled  and  dried,  vitality  may  often 
be  restored  by  burying  the  whole  tree  for  a  few  days  in  moist  soil ;  but 
it  is  far  better  not  to  have  them  get  in  condition  to  need  any  such  rem- 
edy, which  at  best  can  not  restore  the  tree  to  its  original  condition. 

In  excavating  holes  for  planting,  it  is  not  necessary  to  dig  very 
deep,  unless  for  a  tree  with  a  tap-root ;  it  may  even  be  hurtful  in  a 
hard  soil  by  affording  a  place  to  hold  water  under  a  tree  to  its  injury. 
The  roots  of  young  trees  grow  near  the  surface,  and  the  holes  should 
be  large  enough  to  allow  the  roots  to  be  extended  their  full  length  with- 
out cramping  or  bending. 

In  case  it  is  very  dry  at  the  time  of  planting,  it  is  a  good  plan  to 
puddle  the  soil  around  the  roots,  always  covering  with  dry  earth.  In 
this  way  moisture  will  be  retained  for  a  long  time.  Avoid  too  deep 
planting.  The  roots  must  not  be  placed  beyond  the  action  of  the  air ; 
about  the  depth  they  were  in  before  removed,  or  a  very  little  deeper. 
When  filling,  press  the  earth  from  the  first  firmly,  so  as  to  leave  no 
spaces,  and  have  it  compact  about  the  roots.  This  latter  point  can 
not  be  too  thoroughly  attended  to,  and,  of  course,  to  do  this  well,  the 
soil  must  be  finely  pulverized  and  no  lumps  be  allowed  in  the  filling. 
It  will  be  necessary  to  use  the  hand  to  place  the  soil  in  spaces  where 
the  spade  can  not  go. 

The  time  of  setting  is  best  when  the  soil  has  settled  in  the  Spring 
and  become  warm,  so  that  trees  not  being  removed  begin  to  start 
Earlier  than  this  is  not  so  well,  for  the  sooner  the  tree  begins  to  grow 
after  being  set  the  more  likely  to  do  well.  We  believe  the  proper  time 
is  the  Spring,  the  best  time  for  planting  all  kinds  of  trees,  although 
early  Fall  planting  is  often  recommended.  Evergreens  often  su<vee<! 
well  planted  in  August;  still  we  wmtld  rather  risk  them  in  the  Spring, 
just  as  they  are  ready  to  grow.  When  you  would  plant  early  potatoes 
is  a  good  time  to  plant  trees.  Evergreens  are  the  most  sensitive  of  any 
to  drying  while  being  removed,  and  if  once  allowed  to  become  dry  it  is 

3  1  *L-3 


•"38  TREES   AND    TREE-PLANTING. 

all-day  with  them;  no  amount  of  pains  or  trouble  can  restore  the  lost 
"vitality.  For  this  reason  they  can  be  removed  but  short  distances 
unless  very  carefully  packed. 

As  more  or  less  of  the  roots  are  removed  or  injured,  it  is  neces- 
sary to  prune  the  top  when,  transplanted.  This  has  generally  been 
done  by  cutting  all  the  branches  back ;  but  a  better  way  is  to  remove 
a  portion  of  the  branches,  leaving  those  strong  ones  that  are  in  posi- 
tion to  give  the  tree  a  well-shaped  top.  If  all  the  branches  are  left, 
:and  the  proportion  between  the  tops  and  roots  balanced  by  cutting  all 
back,  in  after-growth  some  of  these  branches  will  require  to  be  re- 
moved— an  injury,  perhaps,  to  the  tree.  This  certainly  will  apply  to 
fruit-trees.  Sometimes  trees  for  ornament  or  shade  require  to  be  cut 
back  to  make  a  thicker  top  or  one  more  .symmetrical.  Large  trees 
are  removed  in  Winter  with  a  large  ball  of  earth  attached  to  the 
root,  and,  though  a  heavy  job,  it  is  the  only  successful  method  of 
•doing  it.  A  trench  can  be  dug  at  the  proper  distance  around  the 
tree,  and  filled  with  coarse  litter  previous  to  freezing,  and  also  the 
holes  to  receive  the  trees,  which  will  much  facilitate  the  labor. 

Small  trees  do  better  than  large  ones,  and  it  is  better  to  be  to  the 
trouble  of  taking  care  of  them  one  or  two  years  longer  than  to  have 
-.them  grow  too  long  in  the  nursery  row.  Trees  grown  on  good  soil 
are  better  than  from  poor  soil.  They  have  more  and  better  roots, 
and  are  in  better  condition  to  grow  in  their  new  location.  Of  course, 
it  is  not  desirable  that  the  soil  where  they  have  grown  should  be  so 
rich  as  to  produce  such  a  growth  that  the  wood  will  not  properly 
ripen,  but  sufficient  to  make  a  strong,  healthy  tree.  A  tree  in  poor 
.soil  has  weak,  spindling,  feeble  branches,  and,  like  a  starved  animal, 
takes  a  long  time  to  recover,  even  when  placed  in  better  soil  with 
ibetter  feeding. 

After  large  trees  are  properly  transplanted  they  should  be  staked,  to 
prevent  swayiug  around  by  the  wind.  When  the  ground  is  soft  the 
movement  of  the  top  creates  a  displacement  of  the  roots  before  they 
have  taken  any  hold  of  the  soil,  resulting  in  injury  or  death  to  the 
tree.  Mulching  must  not  be  dispensed  with.  Its  object  is  to  keep  the 
.-soil  moist  until  the  roots  obtain  a  strong  hold.  This  may  be  overdone. 
Mulch  for  shade  only.  A  large  mass  of  decaying  matter  is  more  hurt- 
ful than  beneficial.  We  can  not  avoid  all  risks  in  transplanting;  but 
If  these  conditions,  which  we  repeat,  are  followed,  the  risk  will  be 
very  much  lessened :  Careful  removal,  protection  from  drying  while 
-out  of  the  ground,  setting  in  warm,  well-pulverized  soil,  hard  tram p- 
ing  the  soil  about  the  roots,  judicious  pruning,  staking,  and  mulching. 

All  this  requires  care  and  labor;  but  it  will  make  the  difference 
t>etween  a  thrifty,  profitable  orchard  and  a  sickly  and  unprofitable 
•one,  or  a  fine-formed,  well-grown  shade  or  ornamental  tree  and  a 
stunted,  unhealthy  specimen  which  has  no  beauty  or  gives  no  pleas- 
ure.— x. 

IF  the  trees  are  large,  cut  the  top  well  back.  The  elm  will  grow 
:if  cut  back  to  a  pole ;  but  if  left  with  a  full  top  the  chances  are  that 
ihe  tree  will  die,  wholly  or  partially,  leaving  the  living  portion  in  un- 
satisfactory shape.  A  most  common  mistake  is  that  of  leaving  too 


ARBOR    DAY    EXERCISES.        .  39 

much  top.  In  case  of  the  maple  tree,  however,  the  top  should  be 
lessened  by  thinning  the  branches,  leaving  the  outline  of  the  tree  not 
much  disturbed.  This  is  necessary  to  secure  the  symmetrical  oval 
shape  which  is  the  beauty  of  the  maple.  If  great  care  be  taken  to 
secure  all  the  roots,  and  as  much  earth  as  possible,  a  larger  top  than 
otherwise  will  be  supported.  If  the  tree  stand  upon  a  slope,  take  a 
.spade  and  cut  a  narrow,  leading  channel  in  the  turf,  which  will  con- 
duct more  water  to  the  roots  of  the  tree,  in  case  of  a  washing  shower, 
than  it  would  receive  without  this  help. 

•      PLANTING  FORESTS. 

The  foregoing  directions  are  for  planting  large  trees  for  shade, or 
ornament ;  the  following  are  for  planting  forests  for  revenue : 

To  start  forests  of  oak,  hickory,  walnut,  and  all  other  heavy-seeded 
trees,  it  is  best  and  cheapest  to  plant  the  seeds  just  where  the  trees 
are  to  grow.  One  method  of  planting  acorns  and  nuts,  in  practice  by 
the  Tharandt  Forest  Academy,  of  Saxony,  is  as  follows :  Take  a  stick 
sharpened  at  one  end  and  shove  it  obliquely  into  the  earth  to  the 
•depth  of  two  inches,  not  more  (in  hard  or  stony  ground,  the  pick  is 
used),  put  in  the  seed  and  press  the  soil  above  it  down  firmly  with  the 
foot.  The  seeds  should  be  placed  about  three  feet  apart.  For  the 
catalpa,  elm,  maple,  locust,  evergreen,  and  all  other  light-seeded  trees, 
it  is  best  to  plant  the  seed  in  beds,  and  transplant  them  three  feet  apart 
after  one,  two,  or  three  years'  growth. 

These  little  trees  can  be  planted  very  rapidly  with  a  hoe  or  spade. 
Dig  a  small  hole  a  little  deeper  than  the  roots;  hold  the  plant  verti- 
cally with  the  left  hand,  and  with  the  right  draw  the  soil  carefully 
around  the  roots,  and  press  it  down  with  the  hands  and  foot.  If  there 
are  stones  near  by,  place  a  few  around  the  plant ;  they  will  help  keep 
the  surface  moist,  and  prevent  the  weeds  and  grass  from  growing.  In 
prairie  lands,  or  where  there  is  tough  sod,  the  ground  should  be  culti- 
vated for  three  years,  and  then  prepared  as  for  wheat,  and  furrows 
may  be  run  three  feet  apart,  the  seedlings  laid  in  these  furrows,  and 
their  roots  covered  with  a  plow.  They  need  no  other  attention  except 
to  keep  them  free  of  weeds  and  to  thin  when  necessary.  For  a  full 
discussion  of  the  subject  of  tree-planting  and  forest  culture  see  Dr. 
F.  B.  Hough's  report  to  our  government  for  1877.  This  exceedingly 
valuable  book  is,  we  believe,  now  out  of  print,  but  copies  might  be 
obtained  from  members  of  Congress  of  1878-80. 

FOREST  CULTURE. 

North  of  the  Potomac,  and  east  of  the  Ohio,  and  I  presume  in 
limited  districts  elsewhere,  rocky,  sterile  wood-lands,  costing  from  two 
dollars  to  fifty  dollars  per  acre,  according  to  locality,  etc.,  are  to-day 
the  cheapest  property  to  be  bought  in  the  United  States,  even  though 
nothing  were  done  with  them  but  to  keep  out  fire  and  cattle,  and  let 
the  young  trees  grow  as  they  will.  Money  can  be  more  profitably 
and  safely  invested  in  lands  covered  by  young  timber  than  any  thing 
else.  The  parent  who  would  invest  a  few  thousand  for  the  bene- 


40  .TREES    AND    TREE-PLANTING. 

tit  of  his  children  or  grandchildren ,  while  young,  may  buy  wood- 
lands which  will  be  worth  twenty  times  their  present  cost  within  the 
next  twenty  years.  But  better  even  than  this  would  it  be  to  buy  up 
rocky,  craggy,  naked  hill-sides,  and  eminences  which  have  been  past- 
ured to  death,  and  shutting  out  the  cattle  inflexibly,  scratch  these 
over  with  plow,  mattock,  hoe,  or  pick,  as  circumstances  shall  dictate ; 
plant  them  thickly  with  chestnut,  walnut,  hickory,  white  oak,  and  t he- 
seeds  of  locust  and  white  pine.  Plant  thickly  and  of  divers  kinds,  so 
as  to  cover  the  ground  promptly  and  choke  out  weeds  and  shrubs, 
with  full  purpose  to  thin  and  prune  as  circumstances  shall  dictate. 
Many  farmers  are  averse  to  planting  timber  because  they  think  nothing 
can  be  realized  therefrom  for  the  next  twenty  or  thirty  years,  which 
is  as  long  as  they  expect  to  live.  But  this  is  a  grave  miscalculation. 
Let  us  suppose  a  rocky,  hilly  pasture  lot  of  ten  or  twenty  acres,  rudely 
scratched  over  as  I  have  suggested,  and  thickly  seeded  with  hickory 
nuts  and  white  oak  acorns  only.  Within  five  years  it  will  yield 
abundantly  of  hoop-poles,  though  the  better,  more  promising  half  be 
left  to  mature,  as  they  should  be ;  two  years  later  another  and  larger 
crop  of  hoop-poles  may  be  cut,  still  sparing  the  best,  and  thenceforth 
a  valuable  crop  of  timber  may  be  taken  from  the  land;  for  if  cut  at 
the  proper  season  (October  to  March),  at  least  two  thrifty  sprouts 
will  start  from  every  stump;  and  so  that  wood  will  yield  a  clear  in- 
come each  year,  while  the  best  trees  are  steadily  growing  and  matur- 
ing. I  do  not  advise  restriction  to  those  two  species  of  timber,  but  I 
insist  that  a  young  plantation  of  forest  trees  may  and  should  yield  a 
clear  income  in  every  year  after  its  fourth.  HORACE  GREELEY. 

PROFITS  OF  FOREST  CULTURE. 

Many  millions  of  dollars  of  American  capital  are  invested  in  va- 
rious enterprises  which  require  a  much  longer  time  to  yield  profit  or 
income  and  never  pay  nearly  as  well  as  systematic  forest  culture  in 
the  proper  locality.  Great  fortunes  are  risked  in  wild  speculations, 
in  rail-roads  which  pay  no  dividends,  in  mining  stocks  which  enrich 
only  the  agents,  or  brokers  selling  them,  in  lands  and  lots,  which  never 
attain  the  expected  increase  of  value.  But  there  is  certainly  no  risk 
in  forest  culture.  It  produces  an  article  of  general  and  steadily  in- 
creasing demand,  and  it  can  be  calculated  with  almost  mathematical 
certainty  what  profit  may  be  derived  from  it  and  within  what  time. 

The  fact  that  it  is  highly  remunerative  in  all  Europe,  where  laud 
is  much  higher  in  price  than  here,  should  justify  the  expectation  that 
it  will  be  profitable  here.  Our  soil  and  climate  produce  a  much  larger 
variety  of  valuable  timber  than  any  European  country.  Several 
species  of  American  trees  are  now  cultivated  there  very  extensively  be- 
cause of  the  superior  qualities  of  the  same  and  with  a  view  to  large 
profit  therefrom.  Our  American  hickory,  black  walnut,  hard  maple, 
and  wild  cherry  for  instance  have  none  of  their  equals  in  Europe. 
They  excite  the  envy  of  Euroj>ean  carriage  makers,  furniture  men,  and 
manufacturers  of  tools.  They  are  now  largely  imported  from  Amer- 
ica, but  the  forest-men  of  Germanv  and  France  are  earnestly  engaged 
in  raising  them  for  the  home  market.  Now  it  is  well  known  that  on  this 


ARBOR    DAY    EXERCISES.  41 

continent  forest  trees  grow  much  quicker  and  comparatively  taller 
than  in  the  eastern  hemisphere.  Here  the  most  useful  trees  attain 
their  full  development  in  two-thirds  of  the  time  required  in  Europe, 
an  advantage  which  can  hardly  be  overestimated. 

In  the  United  States  the  consumption  of  timber  per  capita  of  the 
population  is  infinitely  larger  than  in  Europe,  where  no  frame  houses 
are  built,  where  no  new  settlements  are  made,  and  where  only  a  very 
small  minority  of  the  people  are  so  situated  that  they  may  indulge  in 
the  luxury  of  fine  furniture,  buggies,  and  carriages.  The  parlor  and  sit- 
ting room  furniture  of  any  of  our  skilled  mechanics,  or  small  shop-keepers, 
made  up  from  black  walnut,  cherry,  or  ash,  would  amply  do  for  many 
a  European  officer  of  more  than  ordinary  rank.  In  the  rural  districts 
of  Spain,  Italy,  France,  and  Germany,  hardly  one  out  of  a  hundred 
persons  is  able  to  buy  furniture  of  what  we  would  call  the  most  com- 
mon kind.  Here  in  Aiiierica,  the  proportion  of  the  use  of  timber  for 
furniture  and  carriage  work  to  its  production  has  become  really  alarm - 
'  ing.  Within  the  past  twenty-five  years,  the  price  of  such  timber  has 
risen  at  a  rapid  rate  and  is  still  increasing.  At  any  place  not  too  dis- 
tant from  the  ordinary  transportation  lines,  every  year's  growth  of  a 
walnut,  maple,  or  hickory  tree  represents  a  sure  and  respectable  in- 
crease of  the  owner's  capital. 

The  governments  of  Prussia,  of  several  of  the  smaller  German 
principalities,  and  of  France,  Austria,  and  Italy  make  forest-culture 
an  unfailing  source  of  a  large  yearly  revenue.  They  find  it  profitable 
to  buy  tracts  of  inferior  lands  at  prices  equal  to  those  of  our  best 
farming  lands,  and  to  stock  them  with  timber.  Many  private  land- 
owners there  also  derive  a  large  yearly  income  from  their  forests  with- 
out ever  diminishing  the  area  of  the  same.  Forests  there  are  divided 
in  enough  equal  parcels  for  yearly  cutting  to. give  the  trees  sufficient 
time  for  development,  and  eacR  parcel  is  immediately  replanted  after 
having  been  cleared.  Excepting  a  few  remote  mountain  districts, 
there  are  no  more  natural  forests  in  Central  Europe.  It  is  not  profi- 
table to  let  any  forest  tree  remain  growing  after  it  has  attained  full 
age,  as  the  forester  calls  it.  In  Central  Europe  oak  grows  to  perfection 
in  eighty  to  one  hundred  and  twenty,  beach  and  pine  in  thirty  to  fifty 
years.  But  it  is  not  always  intended  to  raise  trees  to  full  size,  and 
it  is  really  not  so  remunerative. 

Only  the  better  class  of  wheat  or  meadow-land  nets  a  greater  aver- 
age revenue  in  twenty-five  years  than  well-managed  forests — a  fact 
which  may  at  first  sight  seem  incredible,  but  which  is  easily  accounted 
for  by  comparison  between  the  yearly  expenses  of  grain  culture  and 
the  trifling  outlay  required  for  the  planting  and  maintenance  of  a  for- 
est after  the  trees  have  become  two  or  three  years  old,  and  by  taking 
in  consideration  the  frequent  failures  of  grain  crops  and  the  sure  stead- 
iness of  the  growth  of  trees.  Planting  may  be  done  by  children. 

With  all  the  advantages  in  our  favor,  why  should  forest-culture  not 
l)e  just  as  profitable  in  Ohio  as  in  any  part  of  Europe?  Our  supply  of 
timber,  fit  for  furniture,  carriages,  and  even  cooperage  is  almost  en- 
tirely exhausted.  The  many  timber  lots  distributed  all  over  the  state 
are  very  deceptive.  Closer  inspection  will  show  that  nearly  all  the 
good  trees  of  larger  size  have  long  ago  found  their  way  to  the  saw- 


42  TREES    AND   TREE-PLANTING. 

mills,  and  that  only  the  wind-twisted  and  heart-rotten  ones  have 
remained.  Spontaneous  growth  is  not  regular  enough  to  be  really 
profitable.  The  future  supply  of  good  timber  in  Ohio  will  conse- 
quently depend  mostly  upon  systematic  forest  culture,  and  those  first 
•engaging  in  it  will  find  ample  remuneration  for  any  capital  or  labor 
•employed.  They  may  derive  a  fortune  from  comparatively  poor  land, 
unfit  for  grain  crops  and  of  little  account  for  pasturage. 

Locust,  although  being  a  very  hard  and  solid  timber,  will  make 
fence  posts  and  pavement  blocks  in  eight  years  from  the  seed,  and 
large  trees  in  twelve  years.  Its  beautiful  golden  yellow  color,  mixed 
with  jet  black,  makes  it  well  adapted  for  elegant  furniture.  Catalpa, 
Avhich  makes  the  best  railroad  ties,  grows  even  quicker.  Hickory, 
now  largely  exported  to  Europe,  and  coming  in  great  demand  there, 
will  prove  exceedingly  profitable.  Sown  in  rows  three  feet  apart, 
the  nuts  six  inches  apart,  the  young  trees  will  grow  up  straight  and 
slender.  In  five  years  thinning  out  may  commence,  and  hoop-poles 
may  be  sold ;  the  next  thinning  out  will  give  material  for  spokes  and 
buggy  fills;  and  the  best  trees,  left  standing  at  proper  distances,  will 
make  a  fine  forest  in  less  than  twenty  years.  Black  Walnut  is  a 
slower  grower,  but  it  is  getting  so  costly  that  it  is  worth  while  to  think 
of  planting  it  for  speculation.  Men  below  the  age  of  thirty-five  years 
will  be  able  to  reap  a  rich  harvest  from  the  cultivation  of  this  valuable 
timber  before  they  have  passed  the  best  time  of  life.  A  forty-acre 
lot  of  Black  Walnut  forest,  now  planted,  will,  in  twenty-five  years, 
make  its  owner  independently  wealthy,  without  requiring  much  outlay 
or  labor.  I  am  told  that  a  gentlemen,  who  twenty  years  ago,  planted 
twelve  acres  of  land  in  Southern  Indiana  with  pecan  nuts,  made  a 
fortune  by  it,  and  created  the  source  of  a  large  yearly  revenue. 

But  the  most  profitable  branch  of  forestry  is  certainly  the  cultiva- 
tion of  oak  for  tan-bark  on  the  renewal  or  Hackwald  system.  The 
acerns  (about  six  bushels  to  the  acre)  will  be  laid  six  inches  apart 
and  in  rows  three  feet  distant.  The  young  saplings  taken  out  by 
thinning  may  be  used  to  great  advantage  in  planting.  In  twelve 
years  (under  very  favorable  conditions  even  sooner)  the  trees  will  be 
large  enough  for  cutting  and  peeling.  New  sprouts  will  grow  out  from 
the  roots  in  the  same  year,  and  the  second  growth  will  prove  more 
thrifty  than  the  first.  The  revenue  from  such  forests  may  be  called 
perpetual.  In  Europe  vast  tracts  of  second  class  land  are  forested  in 
this  manner,  and  many  formerly  unproductive  estates  have  been  made 
highly  valuable  by  this  very  Hackwald  culture.  The  bark  of  the 
young  and  middle-sized  trees  contains  more  tannin  and  is  therefore  of 
higher  value  than  that  taken  from  old  trees.  Here  in  Ohio  the  bark 
of  the  chestnut-leaved  oak  is  preferred  to  all  others  and  almost  exclu- 
sively used.  The  tree  is  a  more  rapid  grower  than  other  varieties  of 
oak  and  is  satisfied  with  the  poorest  of  soil. 

One  of  the  most  intelligent  and  experienced  of  the  Cincinnati  tan- 
ners informs  me  that  in  Cincinnati  alone  18,000  cords  of  tan-bark  are 
used  per  year,  and  even  a  larger  quantity  in  Louisville.  Seven  trees  of 
a  foot  in  diameter  will  furnish  one  cord.  The  chestnut-leaved  oak  never 
forms  entire  forpsts  by  spontaneous  growth,  but  is  interspersed  among 
other  timber.  My  informant  counted  the  chestnut-leaved  oak-trees  on 


ARBOR    DAY    EXERCISES.  43 

a  comparatively  very  well-stocked  15,000  acre  lot  in  Pulaski  County, 
Ky.,  and  found  them  to  number  3,500.  At  that  rate  the  tanneries 
of  Cincinnati  and  Louisville  alone  would  every  year  use  up  the  trees 
spontaneously  growing  on  about  100,000  acres  of  land.  The  few  years 
since  the  Cincinnati  and  Southern  Railroad  has  been  in  operation  a 
belt  of  fourteen  miles  on  both  sides  of  the  road,  and  of  about  two 
hundred  miles  in  length,  has  been  almost  totally  depleted  of  that  val- 
uable variety  of  timber.  The  same  gentleman  ventures  to  predict 
that  within  twenty  years  from  now  the  entire  supply  of  chestnut-oak 
bark  in  the  United  States  will  be  exhausted.  The  price  now  varies 
from  $14  to  $28  per  cord,  and  is  steadily  increasing.  From  carefully 
prepared  reports  of  the  forestry  departments  of  the  several  German 
States  aud  of  Austria,  it  appears  that  an  acre  of  properly  cultivated 
Hackwald  of  the  age  of  twelve  years  will  furnish  from  four  to  five  cords 
of  tan-bark,  and  about  six  thousand  feet  of  timber  (board  measure)  fit 
for  posts  and  for  wagon-makers'  work.  The  revenue  from  the  wood 
covers  all  the  expenses  of  planting  and  managing,  leaving  a  surplus. 
Under  such  circumstances,  the  foresting  of  inferior  lands  in  Ohio, 
Kentucky,  or  West  .Virginia  could  not  fail  to  lay  the  foundation  of 
wealth  for  those  who  would  now  engage  in  it.  Large  tracts  of  such 
lands  are  now  lying  waste.  The  income  derived  therefrom  is  now 
generally  not  sufficient  to  pay  the  taxes  and  interest  on  the  original 
purchase  money.  By  the  means  of  forest  culture,  they  might  be 
easily  turned  into  well-paying  estates,  and  while  they  are  now  not 
much  more  than  a  public  nuisance,  they  may  become  an  ornament  of 
the  State  and  a  great  benefit  for  the  general  public. 

EMIL   ROTHE. 

VILLAGE  IMPROVEMENT  SOCIETIES. 

IN  order  to  assist  in  organizing  Village  Improvement  Societies,  the 
following  Constitution  is  given  here.  It  is  modeled  after  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  Laurel  Hill  Association  of  Stockbridge,  Conn.,  and  of  the 
Wyoming  and  College  Hill  (Hamilton  County,  O.,)  Village  Im- 
provement Societies. 

ARTICLE   I. 

THIS  Society  shall  be  called  the  —       -  Improvement  Society. 

ARTICLE   II. 

The  object  of  this  Society  shall  be  to  improve  and  ornament  the 
streets  and  public  grounds  of  the  village  by  planting  and  cultivating 
trees,  establishing  and  protecting  grass-plats  and  borders  in  the  ave- 
nues, and  generally  doing  whatever  may  tend  to  the  improvement  of 
the  village  as  a  place  of  residence. 

ARTICLE  III. 

The  business  of  the  Society  shall  be  conducted  by  a  board  of  nine 
directors — five  gentlemen  and  four  ladies,  to  be  elected  annually  by 
the  Society — who  shall  constitute  the  board.  This  board  shall,  from 
its  own  number,  elect  one  President,  two  Vice-presidents,  a  Secretary, 
and  Treasurer,  and  shall  appoint  such  committees  as  they  may  deem 
advisable  to  further  the  ends  of  the  Society. 


44  TREES    AND    TREE-PLANTING. 

ARTICLE   IV. 

It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  President,  and,  in  his  absence,  of  the 
senior  Vice-president,  to  preside  at  all  meetings  of  the  Society,  and  to 
carry  out  all  orders  of  the  Board  of  Directors. 

ARTICLE    V. 

It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Secretary  to  keep  a  correct  and  careful 
record  of  all  proceedings  of  the  Society  and  of  the  Board  of  Direc- 
tors, in  a  book  suitable  for  their  preservation,  and  such  other  duties  as 
ordinarily  pertain  to  the  office. 

ARTICLE   VI. 

It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Treasurer  to  keep  the  funds  of  the 
Society,  and  to  make  such  disbursements  as  may  be  ordered  by  the 
Board  of  Directors. 

ARTICLE  VII. 

No  debt  shall  be  contracted  by  the  Board  of  Directors  beyond  the 
amount  of  available  funds  within  their  control  to  pay  it,  and  no  mem- 
ber of  this  Society  shall  be  liable  for  any  debt  of  the  Society  beyond 
the  amount  of  his  or  her  subscription. 

ARTICLE  VIII. 

Any  adult  person  may  become  a  member  of  this  Society  by  paying 
two  dollars  ($2.00)  annually.  Any  person  not  of  age  who  shall 
plant  and  protect  a  tree,  under  the  direction  of  the  Board  of  Direct- 
ors, or  shall  pay  the  sum  of  $1.00  annually,  may  become  a  member  of 
this  Society  until  of  age,  after  which  time  their  annual  dues  shall  be 
increased  to  two  dollars  ($2.00),  the  same  as  other  adults. 

ARTICLE  IX. 

The  annual  meeting  of  the  Society  shall  be  held  during  the  first 
week  of  October,  at  such  place  as  the  Board  of  Directors  may  select, 
and  a  notice  of  such  meeting  shall  be  posted  in  prominent  places 
through  the  village.  Other  meetings  of  the  Society  may  be  called  by 
the  Board  of  Directors  when  desirable. 

ARTICLE  x. 

At  the  annual  meeting,  the  Board  of  Directors  shall  report  the 
amount  of  money  received  during  the  year,  and  the  source  from 
which  it  has  been  received;  the  amount  of  money  expended  during 
the  year,  and  the  objects  for  which  it  has  been  expended ;  the  number 
of  trees  planted  at  the  cost  of  the  Society,  and  the  number  planted  by 
individuals ;  and,  generally,  all  acts  of  the  Board  that  may  be  of  in- 
terest to  the  Society.  This  report  shall  be  entered  on  the  record  of 
the  Society. 

ARTICLE  XI. 

This  Constitution  may  be  amended  with  the  approval  of  two- 
thirds  of  the  members  present,  at  any  annual  meeting  of  the  Society, 
or  at  any  special  meeting  called  for  that  purpose,  a  month's  notice  of 
the  proposed  amendment,  with  its  object,  having  been  given. 


SECOND. 


SELECTIONS  ON  TREES 

FOR 

ARBOR  DAY  CELEBRATIONS. 


,e  gg£ee  of  «?e  Afield  J§  g£a«'§  g}«fe."— BIBLE. 


IT  is  gratifying  to  see  Ohio  take  such  deep  interest  in  tree-planting, 
which  is  beginning  so  strongly  to  attract  public  attention.  Setting 
apart  one  day  for  this  purpose  and  making  it  a  general  holiday  will 
add  attractiveness  to  utility,  and  give  it  a  deeper  hold  on  the  popular 
heart.  But  the  happiest  thought  of  all  was  to  make  it  a  holiday  for 
the  public  schools,  and  have  the  children  practically  take  part  in  it  and 
set  out  groups  of  trees  for  their  favorite  authors.  You  thus  not  only 
connect  trees  with  the  associations  of  childhood  and  their  pleasantest 
holidays,  but  with  authors  from  whom  they  receive  their  earliest  and 
best  impressions. 

We  sometimes  forget  that  the  highest  aim  of  education  is  to  form 
right  character — and  that  is  accomplished  more  by  impressions  made 
upon  the  heart  than  by  knowledge  imparted  to  the  mind. 

The  awakening  of  our  best  sympathies — the  cultivation  of  our  best 
and  purest  tastes — strengthening  the  desire  to  be  useful  and  good,  and 
directing  youthful  ambition  to  unselfish  ends — such  are  the  objects  of 
true  education.  Surely  nothing  can  be  better  calculated  to  procure 
these  ends  than  the  holiday  set  apart  for  the  public  schools. 

J.  T.  HEADLEY  :  Extract  from  Letter. 


WHEN  we  plant  a  tree,  we  are  doing  what  we  can  to  make  our 
planet  a  more  wholesome  and  happier  dwelling-place  for  those  who 
come  after  us  if  not  for  ourselves. 

As  you  drop  the  seed,  as  you  plant  the  sapling,  your  left  hand 
hardly  knows  what  your  right  hand  is  doing.  But  Nature  knows, 
and  in  due  time  the  Power  that  sees  and  works  in  secret  will  reward 
you  openly.  You  have  been  warned  against  hiding  your  talent  in  a 
napkin  ;  but  if  your  talent  takes  the  form  of  a  maple-key  or  an  acorn, 
and  your  napkin  is  a  shred  of  the  apron  that  covers  "  the  lap  of  the 
earth,"  you  may  hide  it  there,  unblamed ;  and  when  you  render  in 
your  account  you  will  find  that  your  deposit  has  been  drawing  com- 
pound interest  all  the  time. 

OLIVER  WENDELL  HOLMES:  Extract  from  Letter. 


46  TREES    AND    TREE-PLANTING. 

WE  wish  to  wake  up  the  people  of  Ohio  to  the  value  of  their  forests, 
and  to  prevent  the  fulfillment  of  the  prediction  of  Bryant's  Indian  at  the 
burial-place  of  his  fathers : 

But  I  behold  a  fearful  sign, 
To  which  the  white  man's  eyes  are  blind. 
Before  these  fields  were  shorn  and  tilled, 

Full  to  the  brim  our  rivers  flowed, 
The  melody  of  waters  filled 

The  fresh  and  boundless  wood. 
And  torrents  dashed  and  rivulets  played, 
And  fountains  sported  in  the  shade. 
These  grateful  sounds  are  heard  no  more, 

The  springs  are  silent  in  the  sun, 
The  rivers,  by  the  blackened  shore, 

With  lessening  currents  run  ; 
The  realm  our  tribes  are  crushed  to  get 
May  be  a  barren  desert  yet. 


THE  trees  may  outlive  the  memory  of  more  than  one  of  those  in 
whose  honor  they  were  planted.  But  if  it  is  something  to  make  two 
blades  of  grass  grow  where  only  one  was  growing,  it  is  much  more  to 
have  been  the  occasion  of  the  planting  of  an  oak  which  shall  defy 
twenty  scores  of  Winters,  or  of  an  elm  which  shall  canopy  with  its 
green  cloud  of  foliage  half  as  many  generations  of  mortal  immortal- 
ities. I  have  written  many  verses,  but  the  best  poems  I  have 
produced  are  the  trees  I  planted  on  the  hill-side  which  overlooks 
the  broad  meadows,  scalloped  and  rounded  at  their  edges  by  loops 
of  the  sinuous  Housatonic.  Nature  finds  rhymes-for  them  in  the  re- 
curring measures  of  the  seasons.  Winter  strips  them  of  their  orna- 
ments and  gives  them,  as  it  were,  in  prose  translation,  and  Summer 
reclothes  them  in  all  the  splendid  phrases  of  their  leafy  language. 

What  are  these  maples  and  beeches  and  birches  but  odes  and  idyls 
and  madrigals  ?  What  are  these  pines  and  firs  and  spruces  but  holy 
hymns,  too  solemn  for  the  many-hued  raiment  of  their  gay  deciduous 
neighbors?  OLIVER  WENDELL  HOLMES:  Extract  from  Letter. 


THE  objects  of  the  restoration  of  the  forests  are  as  multifarious  as 
the  motives  which  have  led  to  their  destruction,  and  as  the  evils  which 
that  destruction  has  occasioned.  The  planting  of  the  mountains  will 
diminish  the  frequency  and  violence  of  river  inundations,  prevent  the 
formation  of  torrents ;  mitigate  the  extremes  of  atmospheric  tempera- 
ture, humidity,  and  precipitation ;  restore  dried-up  springs,  rivulets, 
and  sources  of  irrigation ;  shelter  the  fields  from  chilling  and  from 
parching  winds ;  prevent  the  spread  of  miasmatic  effluvia ;  and, 
finally,  furnish  an  inexhaustible  and  self-renewing  supply  of  material 
indispensable  to  so  many  purposes  of  domestic  comfort,  to  the  success- 
ful exercise  of  every  act  of  peace,  every  destructive  energy  of  war. 
GEORGE  P.  MARSH,  "Man  and  Nature." 


ARBOR    DAY    EXERCISES.  47 

THE  WAYSIDE  INN— AN  APPLE-TREE. 

I  HALTED  at  a  pleasant  iuu, 

As  I  my  way  was  wending — 
A  golden  apple  was  the  sign, 

From  knotty  bough  depending. 

Mine  host — it  was  an  apple-tree — 

He  smilingly  received  me, 
And  spread  his  choicest,  sweetest  fruit, 

To  strengthen  and  relieve  me. 

Full  many  a  little  feathered  guest 

Came  through  his  branches  springing; 
They  hopped  and  flew  from  spray  to  spray, 

Their  notes  of  gladness  singing. 

Beneath  his  shade  I  laid  me  down, 

And  slumber  sweet  possessed  me; 
The  soft  wind  blowing  through  the  leaves 

With  whispers  low  caressed  me. 

And  when  I  rose,  and  would  have  paid 

My  host  so  open-hearted, 
He  only  shook  his  lofty  head — 

I  blessed  him,  and  departed. 

FROM  THE  GERMAN. 

I  LOVE  thee  in  the  Spring, 
Earth-crowning  forest!  when  amid  the  shades 
The  gentle  South  first  Avaves  her  odorous  wing, 

And  joy  fills  all  the  glades. 

In  the  hot  Summer  time, 
With  deep  delight,  the  somber  aisles  I  roam, 
Or,  soothed  by  some  cool  brook's  melodious  ch'ime 

Kest  on  thy  verdant  loam. 

But  O,  when  Autumn's  hand 
Hath  marked  thy  beauteous  foliage  for  the  grave, 
How  doth  thy  splendor,  as  entranced  I  stand, 

My  willing  heart  enslave! 

WM.  JEWETT  PABODIE. 


THE  groves  were  God's  first  temples.     Ere  man  learned 
To  hew  the  shaft  and  lay  the  architrave, 
And  spread  the  roof  above  them, — ere  he  framed 
The  lofty  vault  to  gather  and  roll  back 
The  sound  of  anthems ;  in  the  darkling  wood, 
Amidst  this  cool  and  silence,  he  knelt  down, 
And  offered  to  the  Mightiest  solemn  thanks 
And  supplication. 

WILLIAM  CULLEX  BRYANT. 


48  TREES    AND    TREE-PLANTING. 

FOREST  SONG. 

A  SONG  for  the  beautiful  trees, 

A  song  for  the  forest  grand, 

The  garden  of  God's  own  hand, 
The  pride  of  his  centuries. 
Hurrah  !  for  the  kingly  oak, 

For  the  maple,  the  forest  queen, 
For  the  lords  of  the  emerald  cloak, 

For  the  ladies  in  living  green. 

For  the  beautiful  trees  a  song, 

The  peers  of  a  glorious  realm, 

The  linden,  the  ash,  and  the  elm, 
So  brave  and  majestic  and  strong. 
Hurrah !  for  the  beech  tree  trim, 

For  the  hickory  staunch  at  core, 
For  the  locust,  thorny  and  grim, 

For  the  silvery  sycamore. 

A  song  for  the  palm,  the  pine, 

And  for  every  tree  that  grows, 

From  the  desolate  zone  of  snows 
To  the  zone  of  the  burning  line. 
Hurrah !  for  the  warders  proud 

Of  the  mountain-side  and  vale, 
That  challenge  the  lightning  cloud, 

And  buffet  the  stormy  gale. 

A  song  for  the  forest  aisled, 

With  its  Gothic  roof  sublime, 

The  solemn  temple  of  Time, 
Where  man  becometh  a  child, 
As  he  listens  the  anthem-roll 

Of  the  wind  in  the  solitude, 
The  hymn  that  telleth  his  soul 

That  God  is  the  Lord  of  the  wood. 

So  long  as  the  rivers  flow, 

'     So  long  as  the  mountains  rise, 

May  the  forests  sing  to  the  skies, 
And  shelter  the  earth  below. 
Hurrah !  for  the  beautiful  trees ! 

Hurrah!  for  the  forest  grand, 
The  pride  of  his  centuries, 

The  garden  of  God's  own  hand. 

PROF.  W.  H.  VBNABLK. 
This  song  was  written  expressly  for   Cincinnati  "  Arbor  Day,"  1882. 


THE  wealth,  beauty,  fertility,  and  healthfulness  of  the  country 
largely  depend  upon  the  conservation  of  our  forests  and  the  planting 
of  trees.  JOHN  GREEM.EAF  WHITTIER:  Extract  from  Letter. 


ARBOR    DAY    EXERCISES.  49 

SONG  TO  THE  TREES. 


HAIL  to  the  trees! 

Patient  and  generous,  mothers  of  mankind, 
Arching  the  hills,  the  minstrels  of  the  wind, 
Spring's  glorious  flowers,  and  Summer's  balmy  tents, 
A  sharer  in  man's  free  and  happier  sense. 
From  early  blossom  till  the  north  wind  calls 
Its  drowsy  sprites  from  beech-hid  waterfalls, 
The  trees  bless  all,  and  then,  brown-mantled,  stand 
The  sturdy  prophets  of  a  golden  land. 


Eden  was  clothed  in  trees;  their  glossy  leaves 

Gave  raiment,  food,  and  shelter;  'ueath  their  eaves 

Dripping  with  ruby  dew  the  flow'rets  rose 

To  follow  man  from  Eden  to  his  woes. 

The  silver  rill  crept  fragrant  thickets  through, 

The  air  was  rich  with  life,  a  violet  hue 

Tangling  with  sunshine  lit  the  waving  scene, 

'Twas  heaven,  tree-born,  tree-lulled,  en  wreathed  in  green. 


Where  trees  are  not,  behold  the  deserts  swoon 
Beneath  the  brazen  sun  and  mocking  moon. 
Where  trees  are  not,  the  tawny  torrent  leaps, 
A  brawling  savage  from  the  crumbling  steeps, 
Where  once  the  ferns  their  gentle  branches  waved, 
And  tender  lilies  in  the  crystal  laved ; 
A  brawling  savage,  plundering  in  a  night, 
The  fields  it  once  strayed  through  a  streamlet  bright. 


What  gardeners  like  the  trees;  their  loving  care 
The  daintiest  blooms  can  deftly  plant  and  rear. 
How  smilingly  with  outstretched  boughs  they  stand 
To  shade  the  flowers  too  fragile  for  man's  hand. 
With  scented  leaves,  crisp,  ripened,  nay,  not  dead, 
They  tuck  the  wild  flowers  in  their  moss-rimmed  bed. 
The  forest  nook  outvies  the  touch  of  art, 
The  heart  of  man  loves  not  like  the  oak's  heart. 


O  whispering  trees,  companions,  sages,  friends, 
No  change  in  you,  whatever  friendship  ends; 
No  deed  of  yours  the  Eden  link  e'er  broke  ; 
Bared  is  your  head  to  ward  the  lightning's  stroke. 
You  fed  the  infant  man,  and  blessed  his  cot, 
Hewed  from  your  grain ;  without  you  he  were  not, 
The  hand  that  planned  you  planned  the  future,  too. 
Shall  we  distrust  it,  knowing  such  as  you? 
4 


50  TREES    AND    TREE-PLANTING. 

VI. 

And  when  comes  Eden  back  ?     The  trees  are  hero, 
In  all  their  olden  beauty  and  glad  cheer. 
Eden  but  waits  the  lifting  of  the  night, 
For  man  to  know  the  true  and  will  the  right. 
Whatever  creed  may  find  in  hate  a  birth, 
One  of  the  heavens  is  this  teeming  earth; 
"Of  all  its  gifts  but  innocence  restore, 
And  Eden,"  sigh  the  trees,  "is  at  your  door." 

JOSEPH  W.  MILLER. 
Tliis  poem  was  written  expressly  for  Cincinnati  "  Arbor  Day,"  1882. 


THE  OAK. 

A  GLORIOUS  tree  is  the  old  gray  oak ; 
He  has  stood  for  a  thousand  years — 
Has  stood  and  frowned 
On  the  trees  around, 
Like  a  king  among  his  peers ; 
As  around  their  king  they  stand,  so  now, 

When  the  flowers  their  pale  leaves  fold, 
The  tall  trees  round  him  stand,  arrayed 
In  their  robes  of  purple  and  gold. 
He  has  stood  like  a  tower 
Through  sun  and  shower, 
And  dared  the  winds  to  battle ; 
He  has  heard  the  hail, 
As  from  plates  of  mail, 
From  his  own  limbs  shaken,  rattle; 
He  has  tossed  them  about,  and  shorn  the  tops 

(When  the  storm  has  roused  his  might) 
Of  the  forest  trees,  as  a  strong  man  doth 
The  heads  of  his  foes  in  fight. 

GEORGE  HILL:  "Fall  of  the  Oak.' 


WHEN  the  sun  begins  to  fling 
His  flaring  beams,  me,  goddess,  bring 
To  arched  walks  of  twilight  groves, 
And  shadows  brown,  that  Sylvan  loves, 
Of  pine  or  monumental  oak. 

MILTON. 

T  is  beautiful  to  see  a  forest  stand, 

Brave  with  its  moss-grown  monarchs  and  the  pride 
Of  foliage  dense,  to  which  the  south  wind  bland 

Comes  with  a  kiss  as  lover  to  his  bride; 
To  watch  the  light  grow  fainter,  as  it  streams 

Through  arching  aisles,  where  branches  interlace, 
Where  somber  pines  rise  o'er  the  shadowy  gleams 

Of  silver  birch,  trembling  with  modest  grace. 


ARBOR    DAY    EXERCISES.  51 

WHAT  conqueror  in  any  part  of  "life's  broad  field  of  battle"  could 
desire  a  more  beautiful,  a  more  noble,  or  a  more  patriotic  monument 
than  a  tree  planted  by  the  hands  of  pure  and  joyous  children,  as  a 
memorial  of  his  achievements? 

What  earnest,  honest  worker  with  hand  and  brain,  for  the  bene- 
fit of  his  fellowmen,  could  desire  a  more  pleasing  recognition  of  his 
usefulness  than  such  a  monument,  a  symbol  of  his  or  her  produc- 
tions, ever  growing,  ever  blooming,  and  ever  bearing  wholesome 
fruit  ? 

Trees  already  grown  ancient  have  been  consecrated  by  the  pres- 
ence of  eminent  personages  or  by  some  conspicuous  event  in  our  na- 
tional history,  such  as  the  Elm  tree  at  Philadelphia,  at  which  William 
Penn  made  his  famous  treaty  with  nineteen  tribes  of  barbarians ;  the 
Charter  Oak  at  Hartford,  which  preserved  the  written  guarantee  of 
the  liberties  of  the  Colony  of  Connecticut ;  the  wide-spreading  Oak 
tree  of  Flushing,  Long  Island,  under  which  George  Fox,  the  founder 
of  the  Society  of  Friends  or  Quakers,  preached ;  the  lofty  Cypress 
tree  in  the  Dismal  Swamp  under  which  Washington  reposed  one 
night  in  his  young  manhood ;  the  huge  French  Apple  tree  near  Ft. 
Wayne,  Ind.,  where  Little  Turtle,  the  great  Miami  chief,  gathered 
his  warriors ;  the  Elm  tree  at  Cambridge,  in  the  shade  of  which  Wash- 
ington first  took  command  of  the  Continental  army  on  a  hot  Sum- 
mer's day ;  the  Tulip  tree  on  King's  Mountain  battlefield  in  South 
Carolina,  on  which  ten  bloodthirsty  Tories  were  hung  at  one  time ; 
the  tall  Pine  tree  at  Ft.  Edward,  N.  Y.,  under  which  the  beautiful 
Jane  McCrea  was  slain;  the  magnificent  Black  Walnut  tree,  near 
Haverstraw  on  the  Hudson,  at  which  General  Wayne  mustered  his 
forces  at  midnight,  preparatory  to  his  gallant  and  successful  attack 
on  Stony  Point ;  the  grand  Magnolia  tree  near  Charleston,  S.  C.,  under 
which  General  Lincoln  held  a  council  of  war  previous  to  surrendering 
the  city ;  the  great  Pecan  tree  at  Villere's  plantation,  below  New  Or- 
leans, under  which  a  portion  of  the  remains  of  General  Packenham 
was  buried,  and  the  Pear  trees  planted,  respectively,  by  Governor 
Endicott,  of  Massachusetts,  and  Governor  Stuyvesaut,  of  New  York, 
more  than  two  hundred  years  ago. 

These  trees  all  have  a  place  in  our  national  history,  and  are  in- 
separable from  it  because  they  were  so  consecrated.  My  eyes  have 
seen  all  but  one  of  them,  and  patriotic  emotions  were  excited  at  the 
sight.  How  much  more  significant  and  suggestive  is  the  dedication 
of  a  young  tree  as  a  monument. 

BENSON  J.  LOSSING,  Historian :  Extract  from  Letter. 


THE  project  of  connecting  the  planting  of  trees  with  the  names  ol 
authors  is  a  beautiful  one,  and  one  certain  to  exert  a  beneficial  in- 
fluence upon  the  children  who  participate  in  these  exercises.  The  in- 
stitution of  an  "Arbor  Day"  is  highly  commendable  from  its  artistic 
consequences,  and  can  not  fail  to  result  in  great  benefit  to  the  cli- 
mate and  to  the  commercial  interests  of  the  country  when  it  becomes 
an  institution  of  general  adoption. 

PROF.  B.  PIOKMAN  MANN,  son  of  Horace  Mann:  E.rtract  from  Letter. 


•52  TREES    AND    TREE-PLANTING. 

A  LITTLE  of  thy  steadfastness, 
Bounded  with  leafy  gracefulness, 

Old  oak,  give  me — 

That  the  world's  blast  may  round  me  blow, 
And  I  yield  gently  to  and  fro, 
While  my  stout-hearted  trunk  below, 
And  firm-set  roots  unshaken  be. 

LOWELL. 

FROM  the  earth's  loosened  mould 

The  sapling  draws  sustenance  and  thrives ; 

Though  stricken  to  the  heart  with  Winter's  cold, 
The  drooping  tree  revives. 

The  softly  warbled  song 

Comes  from  the  pleasant  woods,  and  colored  wings 
Glance  quick  in  the  bright  sun,  that  moves  along 

The  forest  openings. 

When  the  bright  sunset  fills 

The  silver  woods  with  light,  the  green  slope  throws 
Its  shadow  in  the  hollows  of  the  hills, 

And  wide  the  upland  grows. 

LONGFELLOW. 

IT  is  a  great  pleasure  to  think  of  the  young  people  assembling  to 
celebrate  the  planting  of  trees,  and  connecting  them  with  the  names 
of  authors  whose  works  are  the  farther  and  higher  products  of  our 
dear  old  Mother  Nature.  An  Oriental  poet  says  of  his  hero : 

"Sunshine  was  he  in  a  Wintery  place, 
And  in  midsummer  coolness  and  shade." 

Such  are  all  true  thinkers,  and  no  truer  monuments  of  them  can 
€xist  than  beautiful  trees.  Our  word  book  is  from  the  beech  tablets 
ou  which  men  used  to  write.  Our  word  Bible  is  from  the  Greek  for 
Jiark  of  a  tree.  Our  word  paper  is  from  the  tree  papyrus — the  tree 
•which  Emerson  found  the  most  interesting  thing  he  saw  in  Sicily.  Our 
>vord  library  is  from  the  Latin  liber,  bark  of  a  tree.  Thus  literature 
is  traceable  in  the  growth  of  trees,  and  was  originally  written  on 
leaves  and  wooden  tablets.  The  West  responds  to  the  East  in  associat- 
ing great  writers  with  groups  of  trees,  and  a  grateful  posterity  will 
appreciate  the  poetry  of  this  idea  as  well  while  it  enjoys  the  shade  and 
beauty  which  the  schools  are  securing  for  it. 

MONCUEE  D.  CONWAY  :   Extract  from  Letter. 


IMPARTING  to  waste  places  more  than  their  pristine  beauty  and 
associating  the  names  of  departed  loved  ones  with  our  work  is  a  po- 
etic and  sublime  conception.  It  symbolizes'  our  faith  in  a  resurrection 
to  a  higher  and  better  life  when  the  hard  struggles  of  this  sin-cursed 
world  are  passed.  GEN.  SAMUEL  F.  GARY  :  Extract  from  Letter. 


AHBOR    DAY    EXERCISES.  53 

THEY  who  dwell  beside  the  stream  and  hill 

Prize  little  treasures  there  so  kindly  given: 
The  song  of  birds,  the  babbling  of  the  rill, 

The  pure,  unclouded  light  and  aid  of  heaven. 
They  walk  as  those  who  seeing  can  not  see, 

Blind  to  this  beauty  even  from  their  birth ; 
We  value  little  blessings  ever  free; 

We  covet  most  the  rarest  things  of  earth. 

But  rising  from  the  dust  of  busy  streets 

These  forest  children  gladden  many  hearts; 
As  some  old  friend  their  welcome  presence  greets 

The  toil-worn  soul,  and  fresher  life  imparts. 
Their  shade  is  'doubly  grateful  when  it  lies 

Above  the  glare  which  stifling  walls  throw  back ; 
Through  quivering  leaves  we  see  the  soft  blue  skies, 

Then  happier  tread  the  dull,  unvaried  track. 

ALICE  B.  NEAL  :    "  Trees  in  the  City.'r 


THE  FOREST  FLOWERS. 

OUR  forests  are  fast  disappearing.  In  their  sheltering  shade  and 
the  rich  mold  of  their  annually  decaying  leaves,  the  greater  number 
of  our  loveliest  plants  are  found  ;  and  when  the  ax  comes,  that  cruel 
weapon  that  wars  upon  nature's  freshness,  and  the  noble  oak,  the  elm, 
the  beech,  the  maple,  and  the  tulip-tree  fall  with  a  loud  crash  in  the 
peaceful  solitude,  even  the  very  birds  can  understand  that  a  floral 
death-knell  sounds  through  the  melodious  wilderness. 

A  number  of  our  choicest  plants  are  threatened  with  extinction  ; 
for  as  the  woods  are  cleared  away  these  tender  offsprings,  the  pretty 
flowers,  which  we  so  dearly  cherish,  will  perish  utterly.  It  is,  there- 
fore, well  to  prevent  as  far  as  possible  the  destruction  of  our  native 
forests,  as  well  as  to  plant  forest  trees,  if  for  no  other  purpose  than 
the  preservation  of  the  little  helpless,  blooming  beauties  that  adorn 
our  woodland  shades. 

GrsTAvrs  FRANKENSTEIN. 


OF  the  infinite  variety  of  fruits  which  spring  from  the  bosom  of 
the  earth,  the  trees  of  the  wood  are  greatest  in  dignity.  Of  all  the 
works  of  the  creation  which  know  the  changes  of  life  and  death,  the 
trees  of  the  forest  have  the  longest  existence.  Of  all  the  object* 
which  crown  the  gray  earth,  the  woods  preserve  unchanged,  through- 
out the  greatest  reach  of  time,  their  native  character.  The  works  of 
man  are  ever  varying  their  aspect;  his  imvns  and  his  fields  alike  reflect 
the  unstable  opinions,  the  fickle  wills  and  fancies  of  each  passing  gen- 
eration ;  but  the  forests  on  his  borders  remain  to-day  the  same  they 
were  ages  of  years  since.  Old  as  the  everlasting  bills,  (hiring  thou- 
sands  of  seasons  they  have  put  forth,  and  laid  flown  their  verdure  in 
calm  obedience  to  the  decree  which  first  bade  them  cover  the  ruins  of 
the  Delude.  SI-SAN  FKMMOUK  ('OOI-ICH  :  ''  /,'-/?•«/  lli>ur%," 


54  TREES    AND   TREE-PLANTING. 

THE  monarch  oak,  the  patriot  of  the  trees, 
Shoots  rising  up,  and  spreads  by  slow  degrees ; 
Three  centuries  he  grows,  and  then  he  stays 
Supreme  in  state;  and  in  three  more  decays. 

DRY  DEN. 

THE  young  oak  grew,  and  proudly  grew, 

For  its  roots  were  deep  and  strong; 
And  a  shadow  broad  on  the  earth  it  threw, 

And  the  sunshine  liuger'd  long 
On  its  glossy  leaf,  where  the  flickering  light 

Was  flung  to  the  evening  sky; 
And  the  wild  bird  sought  to  its  airy  height, 

And  taught  her  young  to  fly. 

MRS.  E.  OAKES  SMITH  :  "  The  Acorn." 


A  TREE,  to  the  thoughtful  and  loving  student  of  nature,  suggests 
ideas  of  beauty  and  perfection  to  which  the  mind  can  not  be  lifted, 
save  by  a  process  of  wondering  admiration. 

FRANCIS  GEORGE  HEATH. 


ALAS,  in  how  many  places  is  the  forest  which  once  lent  us  shade 
nothing  more  than  a  memory!  The  grave  and  noble  circle  which 
adorned  the  mountain  is  every  day  contracting.  Where  you  come  in 
hope  of  seeing  life,  you  find  but  the  image  of  death.  O,  who  will  really 
undertake  the  defense  of  the  trees,  and  rescue  them  from  senseless 
dastruction?  Who  will  eloquently  set  forth  their  manifold  mission, 
and  their  active  and  incessant  assistance  in  the  regulation  of  the  laws 
which  rule  our  globe?  Without  them,  it  seems  delivered  over  to 
blind  destiny,  which  will  involve  it  again  in  chaos!  The  motive 
powers  and  purificators  of  the  atmosphere  through  the  respiration  of 
their  foliage,  avaricious  collectors  to  the  advantage  of  future  ages  of 
the  solar  heat,  it  is  they  which  pacify  the  storm  and  avert  its  most 
disastrous  consequences.  In  the  low-lying  plains,  which  have  no  out- 
let for  their  waters,  the  trees,  long  before  the  advent  of  man,  drained 
the  soil  by  their  roots,  forcing  the  stagnant  waters  to  descend  and 
construct  at  a  lower  depth  their  useful  reservoirs.  And  now,  on  the 
abrupt  declivities,  they  consolidate  the  crumbling  soil,  check  and  breuk 
the  torrent,  control  the  melting  of  the  snows,  and  preserve  to  the 
meadows  the  fertile  humidity  which  in  due  time  will  overspread  them 
with  a  sea  of  flowers. 

And  is  not  this  enough  ?  To  watch  over  the  life  of  the  plant  and 
its  general  harmony,  is  it  not  to  watch  over  the  safety  of  humanity  V 

The  tree,  again,  was  created  for  the  nurture  of  man,  to  assist  him 
in  his  industries  and  his  arts.  It  is  owing  to  the  tree,  to  its  soul, 
earth-buried  for  so  many  centuries,  and  now  restored  to  light,  that  we 
Lave  secured  the  wings  of  the  steam-engine. 

Thank  Heaven  for  the  trees!  With  my  feeble  voice  I  claim  for 
them  the  gratitude  of  man. 

MADAMK  MICIIELET  :  "  Nature,  or  the  Poetry  of  Earth  and  Sea." 


ARBOR    DAY    EXERCISES.  55 

O,  WHO  ia  there  within  whose  heart 

The  love  of  noble  manhood  dwells, 
Who  feels  the  thrill  of  pleasure  start 

When  other  tongue  the  story  tells 

Of  deeds  sublime  ?  with  true  eye  sees 

The  beautiful  in  art  and  thought — 
Dares  stand  before  God's  stately  trees, 

Declaring  that  he  loves  them  not? 

Companions  of  our  childhood  days! 

Companions  still,  though  grown  we  be ! 
Still  through  thy  leaves  the  light  breeze  strays, 

Whispering  the  same  old  songs  to  me. 

Dear  forest !  down  thy  long  aisles  dim 

Soft  sweeps  the  zephyr's  light  caress ; 
Worthy  indeed  art  thou  of  Him 

Who  made  thee  in  thy  loveliness. 

Long  may  thy  graceful  branches  wave, 

Piercing  with  pride  the  balmy  air ; 
Harm  ne'er  would  come  if  I  could  save — 

Fit  objects  of  our  love  and  care. 

But  though  erect  each  noble  form, 

As  year  by  year  rolls  swift  along 
Thou  too,  like  man,  must  face  the  storm, 

And  fall — or  live  to  be  more  strong. 

Forever  upward,  day  by  day, 

Patient  thy  growing  branches  turn ; 
Nearer  the  heavens  each  year  alway — 

May  we  the  simple  lesson  learn — 

Though  few  our  years  or  many  be, 
It  matters  not  the  number  given, 
If  we  can  feel  that,  like  the  tree, 

Each  year  hath  found  us  nearer  heaven. 

MAGGIE  MAY  WELSH,  Lancaster,  O. 
Written  for  Cincinnati  "  Arbor  Day"  Celebrations. 


WHAT  a  noble  gift  to  man  are  the  forests !  What  a  debt  of  grati- 
tude and  admiration  we  owe  for  their  utility  and  their  beauty !  How 
pleasantly  the  shadows  of  the  wood  fall  upon  our  heads  when  we  turn 
from  the  glitter  and  turmoil  of  the  world  of  man  !  The  winds  of 
heaven  seem  to  linger  amid  their  balmy  branches,  and  the  sunshine 
falls  like  a  blessing  upon  the  green  leaves ;  the  wild  breath  of  the  for- 
est, fragrant  with  bark  and  berry,  fans  the  brow  with  grateful  fresh- 
ness; and  the  beautiful  woodlight,  neither  garish  nor  gloomy,  full  of 
calm  and  peaceful  influences,  sheds  repose  over  the  spirit. 

SUSAX  FENIMORE  COOPKK:  "  fiural  Hours." 


50  TREES    AND    THEK-i'LANTING. 

THE  FOREST. 

I  LOVE  thee  when  thy  swelling  buds  appear, 

And  one  by  one  their  tender  leaves  unfold, 
As  if  they  knew  that  warmer  suns  were  near, 

Nor  longer  sought  to  hide  from  Winter's  cold ; 
And  when  with  darker  growth  thy  leaves  are  seen 

To  veil  from  view  the  early  robin's  nest, 
I  love  to  lie  beneath  thy  wooing  screen, 

With  limbs  by  Summer's  heat  and  toil  oppress'd ; 
And  when  the  Autumn  wind  has  stripped  thee  bare, 

And  round  thee  lies  the  smooth,  untrodden  snow, 
When  naught  is  thine  that  made  thee  once  so  fair, 

I  love  to  watch  thy  shadowy  form  below, 
And  through  thy  leafless  arms  to  look  above 
On  stars  that  brighter  beam  when  most  we  need  their  love. 

JONES  VERY:  "  The  Tree." 


THE  heave,  the  wave,  and  bend 
Of  everlasting  trees,  whose  busy  leaves 
Rustle  their  songs  of  praise,  while  ruin  weaves 
A  robe  of  verdure  for  their  yielding  bark, 
While  mossy  garlands,  full  and  rich  and  dark, 
Creep  slowly  round  them!     Monarch  of  the  wood, 
Whose  mighty  scepters  sway  the  mountain  brood, 

Shelter  the  winged  idolaters  of  Day  — 
And  grapple  with  the  storm-god,  hand  to  hand, 
Then  drop  like  weary  pyramids  away, 
Stupendous  monuments  of  calm  decay. 

JOHN  .N 


WELCOME,  ye  shades  !   ye  bowery  thickets,  hail  ! 
Ye  lofty  pines  !    ye  venerable  oaks  ! 
Ye  ashes  wild  !     Resounding  o'er  the  steep  ! 
Delicious  is  your  shelter  to  the  soul. 

THOMSON. 

MOST  worthy  of  the  oaken  wreath 

The  ancients  him  esteemed, 
Who,  in  a  battle  had  'from  death 

Some  man  of  worth  redeemed. 

DRAYTON. 


THERE  oft  the  muse,  what  most  delights  her,  sees 

Long  living  galleries  of  aged  trees, 

Bold  sons  of  earth,  that  lift  their  arms  so  high, 

As  if  once  they  would  invade  the  sky. 

In  such  green  palaces  the  first  kings  reigned, 

Slept  in  their  shade,  and  angels  entertained  ; 

With  such  old  councilors  they  did  advise, 

And,  by  frequenting  sacred  groves,  grew  wise. 


ARBOR   DAY    EXERCISES.  57 

THE  OAK. 

WITH  his  gnarled  old  arms  and  his  iron  form, 

Majestic  in  the  wood, 
From  age  to  age,  in  sun  and  storm, 

The  live-oak  long  has  stood  ; 
And  generations  come  and  go, 

And  still  he  stands  upright, 
And  he  sternly  looks  on  the  world  below, 

As  conscious  of  his  might. 


A  SONG  to  the  oak,  the  brave  old  oak, 

Who  hath  ruled  in  the  greenwood  long? 
Here  's  health  and  renown  to  his  broad  green  crown, 

And  his  fifty  arms  so  strong! 
There's  fear  in  his  frown,  when  the  sun  goes  down, 

And  the  fire  in  the  west  fades  out ; 
And  he  showeth  his  might  on  a  wild  midnight, 

When  the  storm  through  his  branches  shout. 

Then  here's  to  the  oak,  the  brave  old  oak, 

Who  stands  in  his  pride  alone ; 
And  still  flourish  he,  a  hale  green  tree, 

When  a  hundred  years  are  gone. 

II.  F.  CIIORLEY. 

OH  !  come  to  the  woodlands,  't  is  joy  to  behold, 

The  new  waken'd  buds  in  our  pathway  unfold; 

For  Spring  has  come  forth,  and  the  bland  southern  breeze 

Is  telling  the  tale  to  the  shrub  and  the  trees, 

Which,  anxious  to  show  her 

The  duty  they  owe  her, 
Have  decked  themselves  gayly  in  emerald  and  gold. 


WELCOME,  pure  thoughts!  welcome,  ye  silent  groves! 
These  guests,  these  courts,  my  soul  most  dearly  loves  ; 
Now  the  winged  people  of  the  sky  shall  sing 
My  cheerful  anthems  to  the  gladsome  Spring; 
And  if  contentment  be  a  stranger, — then 
I'll  ne'er  look  for  it,  but  in  heaven  again. 

SIR  HENKY  "\VOTTON. 

THE  oak,  for  grandeur,  strength,  and  noble  size, 

Excels  all  trees  that  in  the  forest  grow ; 
From  acorn  small,  that  trunk,  those  branches  rise, 

To  which  such  signal  benefits  we  owe. 
Behold,  what  shelter  in  its  ample  shade, 

From  noontide  sun,  or  from  the  drenching  rain. 
And  of  its  timber  stanch,  vast  ships  are  made, 

To  sweep  rich  cargoes  o'er  the  watery  main. 


58  TREES   AND   TEEE-PJLANTING. 

PROUD  monarch  of  the  forest ! 

That  once  a  sapling  bough, 
Didst  quail  far  more  at  evening's  breath 

Thau  at  the  tempest  iiow. 
Strange  scenes  have  pass'd,  long  ages  roll'd 

Since  first  upon  thy  stem, 
Then  weak  as  osier  twig,  Spring  set 

Her  leafy  diadem. 

To  thee  but  little  recks  it 

What  seasons  come  or  go ; 
Thou  lov'st  to  breathe  the  gale  of  Spring 

And  bask  in  Summer's  glow ; 
But  more  to  feel  the  Wintry  winds 

Sweep  by  in  awful  mirth, 
For  well  thou  kuow'st  each  blast  will  fix 

Thy  roots  more  deep  in  earth. 

Would  that  to  me'  life's  changes 
Did  thus  with  blessings  come  ! 

That  mercies  might,  like  gales  of  Spring 
.  Cause  some  new  grace  to  bloom  ! 

And  that  the  storm  which  scattereth 
Each  earth-born  hope  abroad, 

Might  anchor  those  of  holier  birth 
More  firmly  on  my  God. 


OH,  ROSALIND  !  these  trees  shall  be  my  books, 
And  in  their  barks  my  thoughts  I'll  character, 
That  every  eye  which  in  this  forest  looks 
Shall  see  thy  virtue  witnessed  everywhere. 

SHAKESPEARE:   "As  You  Like  It.' 


TEACHERS  will  please  give  the  pupils  the  following  account  of  the  way 
in  which  Mr.  Morris  came  to  write  the  poem,  "  Woodman,  Spare  that  Tree. 
The  poem  should  then  be  memorized  by  all  the  pupils,  and  recited  or  sung 
on  "  Arbor  Day."  Mr.  Morris,  in  a  letter  to  a  friend,  dated  New  York, 
February  1,  1837,  gave  in  substance  the  following  account.  Riding  out  of " 
town  a  few  days  since,  in  company  with  a  friend,  an  old  gentleman,  lie  in- 
vited me  to  turn  down  a  little,  romantic  woodland  pass,  not  far  from  Bloom- 
ingdale.  "  Your  object?"  inquired  I.  "  Merely  to  look  once  more  at  an  old 
tree  planted  by  my  grandfather  long  before  I  was  born,  under  which  I  used 
to  play  when  a  boy,  and  where  jny  sisters  played  with  me.  There  I  often 
listened  to  the  good  advice  of  niy  parents.  Father,  mother,  sisters— all  are 
gone;  nothing  but  the  old  tree  remains."  And  a  paleness  overspread  his 
fine  countenance,  and  tears  came  to  his  eyes.  After  a  moment's  pause,  he 
added:  "Don't  think  me  foolish.  I  don't  know  how  it  is:  I  never  ride  out 
but  I  turn  down  this  lane  to  look  at  that  old  tree.  I  have  a  thousand  rec- 
ollections about  it,  and  I  always  greet  it  as  a  familiar  and  well-remembered 
friend."  These  words  were  scarcely  uttered  when  the  old  gentleman  cried 
out,  "There  it  is  !"  Near  the  tree  stood  a  man  with  his  coat  off,  sharpening 
iin  ax.  "You're  not  going  to  cut  that  tree  down,  surely?"  "Yes,  but  I 


ARBOU    DAY    KXEUCISKS.  59 

arn,  though,"  said  the  woodman.  "What  for?"  inquired  the  old  gentle- 
man, with  choked  emotion.  "  What  for?  I  like  that !  Well,  I  will  tell  you. 
I  want  the  tree  for  firewood."  "  What  is  the  tree  wortli  to  you  for  firewood  ?" 
"  Why,  when  down,  about  ten  dollars."  "  Suppose  I  should  give  vou  that 
8am,  said  the  old  gentleman,  "  would  you  let  it  stand  ?"  "  Yes.'1  "  You 
are  sure  of  that?"  "Positive!"  "Then  give  me  a  bond  to  that  effect" 
We  went  into  the  little  cottage  in  which  my  companion  was  born,  but  which 
is  now  occupied  by  the  woodman.  I  drew  up  the  bond.  It  was  signed, 
and  the  money  paid  over.  As  we  left,  the  young  girl,  the  daughter  of  the 
woodman,  assured  us  that  while  she  lived  the  tree  should  not  be  cut.  These 
circumstances  made  a  strong  impression  on  "my  mind,  and  furnished  me 
with  the  materials  for  the  song  I  send  you. 

WOODMAN,  spare  that  tree ! 

Touch  not  a  single  bough ! 
In  youth  it  sheltered  me, 

And  I  '11  protect  it  now. 
T  was  my  forefather's  hand 

That  placed  it  near  his  cot; 
There,  woodman,  let  it  stand; 

Thy  ax  shall  harm  it  not! 

That  old  familiar  tree, 

Whose  glory  and  renown 
Are  spread  o'er  land  and  sea, — 

And  wouldst  thou  hack  it  down  ? 
Woodman,  forbear  thy  stroke  ! 

Cut  not  its  earth-bound  ties ; 
O,  spare  that  aged  oak, 

Now  towering  to  the  skies  ! 

When  but  an  idle  boy 

I  sought  its  grateful  shade ; 
Iu  all  their  gushing  joy, 

Here,  too,  my  sisters  played. 
My  mother  kissed  me  here ; 

My  father  pressed  my  hand — 
Forgive  the  foolish  tear  ; 

But  let  that  old  oak  stand. 

My  heart-strings  round  thee  cling, 

Close  as  thy  bark,  old  friend; 
Here  shall  the  wild-bird  sing, 

And  still  thy  branches  bend. 
Old  tree  !  the  storm  still  brave  ! 

And,  woodman,  leave  the  spot; 
While  I  've  a  hand  to  save, 

Thy  ax  shall  harm  it  not. 

GKOKCE  P.  MORRIS. 


60  TREES    AND    TREE— PLANTING. 


The  following  additional  selections  on  trees  were  made  by 
Prof.  W.  H.  Venable. 


IF  I  could  put  my  woods  in  song, 

And  tell  what's  there  enjoyed, 
All  men  would  to  rny  garden  throng, 

And  leave  the  cities  void. 

In  my  plot  no  tulips  blow — 

Snow-loving  pines  and  oaks  instead ; 
And  rank  the  savage  maples  grow 

From  Spring's  faint  flush  to  Autumn  red. 

My  garden  is  a  forest  ledge, 

Which  older  forests  bound ; 
The  banks  slope  down  to  the  blue  lake-edge, 

Then  plunge  to  depths  profound. 

EMERSON  :  "My  Garden." 


MY  fugitive  years  are  all  hasting  away, 

And  I  must  erelong  be  as  lowly  as  they; 

With  a  turf  on  my  breast  and  a  stone  at  my  head, 

Ere  another  such  grove  shall  arise  in  its  stead. 

WILLIAM  COWPBR. 


OH  !  bear  me  then  to  vast  embowering  shades ; 
To  twilight  groves,  and  visionary  vales; 
To  weeping  grottoes,  and  prophetic  glooms ! 
Where  angel  forms  athwart  the  solemn  dusk 
Tremendous,  sweep,  or  seem  to  sweep,  along; 
And  voices,  more  than  human,  through  the  void, 
Deep-sounding,  seize  the  enthusiastic  ear. 

THOMSON:  "Autumn" 

HERE  Nature  does  a  house  for  me  erect, 
Nature,  the  wisest  architect, 

Who  those  fond  artists  does  despise 
That  can  the  fair  and  living  trees  neglect, 

Yet  the  dead  timber  prize. 

COWLBY. 

O,  WILLOW,  why  forever  weep, 

As  one  who  mourns  an  endless  wrong? 

What  hidden  woe  can  lie  so  deep? 
What  utter  grief  can  last  so  long? 

Mourn  on  forever,  "unconsoled, 

And  keep  your  secret,  faithful  tree! 

No  heart  in  all  the  world  can  hold 
A  sweeter  grace  than  constancy. 

ELIZABETH  A.  ALLEN. 


AKBOR   DAY    EXERCISES. 

I  CAKE  not  how  men  trace  their  ancestry, 

To  ape  or  Adam;  let  them  please  their  whim; 

But  I,  in  June,  am  midway  to  believe 

A  tree  among  my  far  progenitors — 

Such  sympathy  is  mine  with  all  the  race. 

JAMES  RUSSELL  LOWELL. 


NAY,  doubt  we  not  that  uuder  the  rough  rind, 

In  the  green  veins  of  these  fair  growths  of  earth, 

There  dwells  a  nature  that  receives  delight 

From  all  the  gentle  processes  of  life,- 

And  shrinks  from  loss  of  being.     Dim  and  faint 

May  be  the  sense  of  pleasure  and  of  pain, 

As  in  our  dreams;  but,  haply,  real  still. 

BEYANT:  "Among  the  Trees." 


Now  saucy  Phoebus'  scorching  beams, 

In  flaming  Summer  pride, 
Dry-withering  waste  my  foamy  streams, 

And  drink  my  crystal  tide. 

Would,  then,  my  noble  master  please, 

To  grant  my  highest  wishes, 
He  '11  shade  my  banks  wi'  tow'ring  trees 

And  bonuie  spreading  bushes. 

Let  lofty  firs  and  ashes  cool, 

My  lowly  banks  o'erspread, 
And  view,  deep  bending  in  the  pool, 

Their  shadows'  wat'ry  bed. 

Let  fragrant  birks,  in  woodbines  drest 

My  craggy  cliffs  adorn  ; 
And,  for  the  little  songster's  nest, 

The  close  embow'riug  thorn. 

EOBEET  B0KNS. 

•       THE  POPLAR  FIELD. 

THE  poplars  are  felled ;  farewell  to  the  shade, 
And  the  whispering  sound  of  the  cool  colonnade. 
The  winds  play  no  longer  and  sing  in  the  leaves, 
Nor  Ouse  on  his  bosom  their  image  receives. 

Twelve  years  have  elapsed  since  I  first  took  a  view 
Of  my  favorite  field,  and  the  bank  where  they  grew  ; 
And  now  in  the  grass,  behold,  they  are  laid, 
And  the  tree  is  my  seat  that  once  lent  me  a  shade. 

The  blackbird  has  fled  to  another  retreat, 
Where  the  hazels  afford  him  a  screen  from  the  heat, 
And  the  scene  where  his  melody  charmed  nie  before 
Resounds  with  his  sweet  flowing  ditty  no  more. 


62  TREES   AND   TREE-PLANTING. 

TIME  made  thee  what  thou  wast,  king  of  the  woods ; 
And  time  hath  made  thee  what  thou  art — a  cave 
For  owls  to  roost  in.     Once  thy  spreading  boughs 
O'erhuug  the  champaign ;  and  the  numerous  flocks 
That  grazed  it,  stood  beneath  that  ample  cope 
Uncrowded,  yet  safe  sheltered  from  the  storm. 
No  flock  frequents  thee  now.     Thou  hast  outlived 
Thy  popularity,  and  art  become 
(Unless  verse  rescue  thee  awhile)  a  tiling 
Forgotten,  as  the  foliage  of  thy  youth. 

COWPEB:  "  Yardly  Oak: 


THE  WOODLAND  HALLO. 

IN  our  cottage,  that  peeps  from  the  skirts  of  the  -wood, 

I  am  mistress,  no  mother  have  I ; 
Yet  blithe  are  my  days,  for  my  father  is  good, 

And  kind  is  my  lover,  hard  by. 
They  both  work  together  beneath  the  green  shade — 

Both  woodmen,  my  father  and  Joe ; 
Where  I  've  listened  whole  hours  to  the  echo  that  made 

So  much  of  a  laugh  or  hallo. 

From  my  basket  at  noon  they  expect  their  supply, 

And  with  joy  from  my  threshold  I  spring 
For  the  woodlands  I  love,  and  the  oaks  waving  high, 

And  Echo,  that  sings  as  I  sing. 
Though  deep  shades  delight  me,  yet  love  is  my  food 

As  I  call  the  dear  name  of  my  Joe ; 
His  musical  shout  is  the  pride  of  the  wood, 

And  my  heart  leaps  to  hear  the  hallo. 

Simple  flowers  of  the  grove,  little  birds,  live  at  ease, 

I  wish  not  to  wander  from  you ; 
I'll  still  dwell  beneath  the  deep  roar  of  your  trees, 

For  I  know  that  my  Joe  will  be  true. 
The  trill  of  the  robin,  the  coo  of  the  dove, 

Are  charms  that  I  'll  never  forego ; 
But,  resting  through  life  on  the  bosom  of  love, 

Will  remember  the  Woodland  Hallo. 

EGBERT  BLOOMFIELD. 


IN  June  't  is  good  to  lie  beneath  a  tree 
While  the  blithe  season  comforts  every  sense, 
Steeps  all  the  brain  in  rest,  and  heals  the  heart, 
Brimming  it  o'er  with  sweetness  unawares.  • 
Fragrant  and  silent  as  that  rosy  snow, 
Wherewith  the  pitying  apple  tree  fills  up 
And  tenderly  lines  some  last-year  robin's  nest 

LOWELL. 


ARBOR    DAY    EXERCISES. 

MUCH  can  they  praise  the  trees  so  straight  and  hy, 

The  sayliug  pine,  the  cedar  proud  aud  tall ; 
The  vine-propp  elme,  the  poplar  never  dry ; 

The  builder  oake,  pole  king  of  forests  all ; 
The  aspiiie  good  for  staves;  the  cypresse  funerall ; 

The  laurell,  meed  of  mightie  conquerors 
And  poets'  sage ;  the  h'rre  that  weepeth  still ; 

The  willow,  \\onie  of  forlorne  paramours; 
The  eugh  obedient  to  the  bender's  will ; 

The  birch  for  shaftes ;   the  sallow  for  the  mill ; 
The  mirrhe,  sweet,  bleeding  in  the  bitter  wound  ; 

The  warlike  beech ;  the  ash  fur  nothing  ill ; 
The  fruitful  olive,  and  the  platane  round  ; 

The  carver  holme;  the  maple,  seldom  inward  sound. 
SPENSER:  "  Faerie  Queen,"  Canto  I. 


HAIL,  old  patrician  trees  so  great  and  good ! 
Hail,  ye  plebeian  under-wood! 

Where  the  poetic  birds  rejoice, 
And  for  their  quiet  nests  aud  plenteous  food 

Pay  with  their  grateful  voice. 

Hail,  the  poor  Muses'  richest  manor-seat ! 
Ye  country  houses  and  retreat, 

Which  all  the  happy  gods  so  love, 
That  for  you  oft  they  quit  their  bright  aud  great 

Metropolis  above. 


THE  PINE  TREE. 

Old  as  Jove, 

Old  as  Love, 

Who  of  me 

Tells  the  pedigree? 

Only  the  mountains  old, 

Only  the  waters  cold, 

Only  moon  and  star, 

My  coevals  are. 

Ere  the  first  fowl  sung, 

My  relenting  Imughs  among, 

Ere  Adam  wived, 

Ere  Adam  lived, 

Ere  the  duck  dived, 

Ere  the  boes  hived, 

Ere  the  lion  roared, 

Ere  the  eagle  soared, 

Light  and  heat,  land  and  sea, 

Spake  unto  the  oldest  tree. 

IVMKRSOX:   "  IT 'ond  Xotcs.' 


64  TREES    AND    TREE-PLANTING. 

THE  PINE  TREE. 

The  tremendous  unity  of  the  pine  absorbs  and  moulds  the  life  of 
a  "race.  The  pine  shadows  rest  upon  a  nation.  The  northern  peoples, 
century  after  century,  lived  under  one  or  other  of  the  two  great  pow- 
ers of  the  pine  and  the  sea,  both  infinite.  They  dwelt  amidst  the 
forests  as  they  wandered  on  the  waves,  and  saw  no  end  nor  any  other 
horizon.  Still  the  dark,  green  trees,  or  the  dark,  green  waters  jugged 
the  dawn  with  their  fringe  or  their  foam.  And  whatever  elements  of 
imagination,  or  of  warrior  strength,  or  of  domestic  justice  were  brought 
down  by  the  Norwegian  or  the  Goth  against  the  dissoluteness  or  degra- 
dation of  the  south  of  Europe  were  taught  them  under  the  green  roofs 
and  wild  penetralia  of  the  pine. 

"Modern  Painters." 


THERE  is  a  pleasure  in  a  pathless  wood. 

BYRON. 

THERE  is  a  serene  and  settled  majesty  in  woodland  scenery  that 
enters  into  the  soul,  arid  delights  and  elevates  it,  and  fills  it  with 
noble  inclinations. 

WASHINGTON  IRVING. 

As  the  leaves  of  trees  are  said  to  absorb  all  noxious  qualities  of  the 
air,  and  to  breathe  forth  a  purer  atmosphere,  so  it  seems  to  me  as  if 
they  drew  from  us  all  sordid  and  angry  passions,  and  breathed 
forth  peace  and  philanthropy. 

WASHINGTON  IRVING. 


THERE  is  something  nobly  simple  and  pure  in  a  taste  for  the  cul- 
tivation of  forest  trees.  It  argues,  I  think,  a  sweet  and  generous  nature 
to  have  this  strong  relish  for  the  beauties  of  vegetation,  and  this 
friendship  for  the  hardy  and  glorious  sons  of  the  forest.  There  is  a 
grandeur  of  thought  connected  with  this  part  of  rural  economy.  It 
is,  if  I  may  be  allowed  the  figure,  the  heroic  line  of  husbandry.  It 
is  worthy  of  liberal,  and  free  born,  and  aspiring  men.  He  who  plant* 
an  oak,  looks  forward  to  future  ages,  and  plants  for  posterity.  Noth- 
ing can  be  less  selfish  than  this. 

WASHINGTON  IRVING. 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  INTERIOR, 

BUBEAU  OP  EDUCATION. 


PLANTING  TREES  IN  SCHOOL  GROUNDS. 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  INTERIOR,  BUREAU  OF  EDUCATION, 

Washington,  April  9,  1883. 

The  advisability  of  adorning  school  grounds  by  planting  shade  and  ornamental  trees 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  school-house  has  frequently  been  dwelt  upon  by  educational 
writers  and  architects  and  has  been  more  than  once  referred  to  in  the  publications  of 
this  Office.  Abroad  the  subject  has  generally  received  a  greater  share  of  the  attention 
its  importance  demands  than  in  this  country,  and  in  Austria  the  taste  and  knowledge  of 
pupils  are  developed  by  means  of  their  own  contributions  in  beautifying  the  school 
grounds  through  the  planting  and  care  of  trees  and  shrubs.  In  several  States  of  the 
American  Union,  however,  there  is  a  growing  disposition  among  school  officers  to  avail 
themselves  of  this  effective  means  of  culture  and  to  foster  a  spirit  in  the  community 
which  will  facilitate  the  operation  of  laws  passed  for  the  encouragement  of  tree  planting 
and  the  protection  of  trees;  in  Connecticut,  especially,  the  late  energetic  secretary  of  the 
State  board  of  education,  Hon.  B.  G.  Northrop,  inaugurated  a  movement  which  is  im- 
proving the  surroundings  of  schools  in  the  rural  districts  almost  beyond  recognition,  and 
in  West  Virginia  the  commendable  efforts  of  the  department  of  public  instruction,  under 
the  direction  of  Hon.  B.  L.  Butcher,  have  resulted  in  similar  improvements.  The  work 
of  Dr.  Peaslee,  city  superintendent  of  Cincinnati,  in  the  same  direction,  has  also  been 
especially  successful. 

Many  considerations  of  an  obviously  persuasive  character  may  readily  be  adduced  to 
encourage  the  practice  of  tree  planting,  whether  the  subject  be  looked  at  from  an  economi- 
cal, a  sanitary,  or  an  aesthetic  standpoint,  and  in  the  excited  interest  with  reference  to 
this  subject  which  characterized  the  centennial  year  they  were  vigorously  urged  and 
favorably  received.  Trees,  moreover,  are  largely  planted  with  a  view  to  benefit  pos- 
terity, and  advantages  may  accrue  that  were  not  at  all  foreseen  by  the  original  planter. 
A  striking  illustration  of  this  is  afforded  in  the  case  of  Evelyn's  Sylva,  published  in 
1664.  Evelyn's  efforts  were  mainly  directed  to  introducing  ornamental  plantations  into 
England,  but  they  eventually  resulted  in  supplying  her  at  an  opportune  moment  with 
the  timber  needed  in  the  construction  of  the  navy  by  means  of  which  she  maintained 
here  supremacy  at  sea  during  the  Napoleonic  wars. 

The  writer  of  the  accompanying  letter,  Dr.  Franklin  B.  Hough,  chief  of  the  forestry 
division  in  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  is  a  gentleman  whose  unusual  attainments 
and  wide  experience  in  the  science  of  arboriculture  peculiarly  entitle  him  to  be  heard. 

JOHN  EATON, 

Commissioner. 


WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT   PRINTING   OFFICE. 

1883. 
11608 


PLANTING  TREES  IN  SCHOOL  GROUNDS. 


WASHINGTON,  March  27,  1883. 

SIR  :  Having  been  often  asked  ibr  advice  on  the  matter  of  tree  planting  upon  grounds 
adjacent  to  school-houses  and  other  educational  institutions,  I  deem  it  proper  to  submit 
to  you  some  suggestions  on  the  subject  which,  if  thought  suitable,  might  be  recommended 
by  you  to  those  having  charge  of  the  property  of  these  establishments.  Besides  answer- 
ing the  inquiries  now  pending,  and  thus  relieving  me  from  the  care  of  separate  reply, 
the  suggestions,  supported  by  your  recommendation,  might  lead  to  planting  upon  these 
grounds  in  many  places  where  the  intention  had  not  previously  been  entertained,  and 
the  benefits  as  well  in  the  direct  effect  secured  from  actual  plantation  as  indirectly  in  the 
cultivation  of  a  taste  for  rural  ornament  and  homestead  improvement  might  be  assured. 

GENERAL  CONSIDERATIONS. 

There  are  some  points  to  be  considered  at  the  outset  which  apply  to  all  situations  and 
to  every  case  that  may  arise.  Trees  planted  adjacent  to  school-houses,  academies,  and 
the  like  will  be  exceptionally  liable  to  injury  from  the  thoughtless  or  possibly  the  ma- 
licious acts  of  children,  to  prevent  which  they  must  be  carefully  taught  the  necessity  of 
letting  them  alone;  and  incidentally  they  should  be  told  how  important  it  is,  not  only 
with  the  trees  that  may  be  set  upon  their  school-house  grounds,  but  upon  plantations 
generally,  whether  for  ornament  or  profit,  that  they  should  be  guarded  from  injuries  of 
every  kind. 

There  is  perhaps  no  injury  to  which  trees  in  front  of  a  school-house  are  more  exposed 
than  that  of  being  wounded  or  broken  down  through  use  as  hitching  posts  for  horses. 
To  prevent  this,  there  should  be  provided  a  sufficient  number  of  strong  posts  for  this  use; 
and  as  a  further  protection  there  should  be  a  bar  outside  of  the  outer  line  of  trees  and  a 
separate  guard  around  every  tree,  at  least  until  the  trees  have  grown  to  a  size  that  will 
render  this  protection  no  longer  needed. 

In  starting  groves  of  trees,  it  is  sometimes  cheaper  to  sow  or  plant  the  seeds  where  the 
trees  are  to  remain;  but  in  no  case  will  this  be  possible  in  the  plantations  we  are  con- 
sidering. The  trees  used  must  be  first  started,  and  should  be  grown  to  as  great  a  size  as 
practicable  before  they  are  set.  To  secure  success  they  should  be  selected  from  nursery 
plantations  or  from  those  that  have  sprung  up  in  open  places,  such  as  the  seedling  trees 
along  fences,  so  that  there  maybe  an  abundance  of  the  small  fibrous  roots.  Without  this 
precaution  they  will  be  very  liable  to  fail.  It  should  be  further  borne  in  mind,  that  if 
the  roots  are  much  exposed  to  the  sun  or  to  a  cold  or  drying  wind  their  vitality  may  be 
soon  lost.  Great  care  should  be  taken,  if  they  are  brought  from  an  adjoining  place  and 
planted  immediately,  to  retain  as  much  soil  among  them  as  possible,  and  to  prefer  a  damp 
and  cloudy  day.  By  placing  the  roots  of  the  trees  as  soon  as  they  are  drawn  from  the 
ground  upon  a  coarse  strong  sheet  of  canvas,  and  binding  this  around  them,  this  object 
may  be  best  secured.  Straw  or  moss,  a  little  dampened,  will  serve  this  purpose  very 
well,  and  sometimes  the  trees  may  be  set  in  a  box  or  barrel  with  some  of  the  better  soil 
in  which  they  grew,  for  their  removal.  Sometimes  trees  can  be  removed  in  winter  with 
great  advantage  by  digging  a  trench  around  them  in  the  fall  and  allowing  the  earth  to 
reeze,  so  that  a  disk,  including  the  tree  and  its  roots,  may  be  removed  entire. 

3 


It  should,  however,  be  remembered  that  the  transplanting  of  large  trees  is  a  difficult, 
uncertain,  and  expensive  process,  and  that  as  a  general  rule,  for  the  plantations  under 
notice,  the  largest  size  should  not  exceed  two  inches  in  diameter.  Trees  of  half  thia 
thickness  would  be  much  less  likely  to  fail,  and  would  in  five  years  probably  outgrow 
the  larger  ones,  but  they  would  need  a  little  more  protection  at  first  and  might  not  be 
as  much  respected  as  their  "big  brothers."  If  of  the  larger  size,  they  might  need  brac- 
ing with  wires  to  prevent  them  from  being  swayed  by  the  winds  until  their  roots  are 
well  started.  The  greatest  care  should  be  taken  to  prevent  the  wires  from  cutting  into 
the  trees,  by  placing  blocks  of  wood  around  the  places  where  the  wires  are  fastened,  and 
by  providing  that  the  growth  at  that  place  is  not  too  much  obstructed  while  they  remain. 
In  taking  up  a  tree  we  should  avoid  cutting  off  the  large  roots  too  near  the  trunk.  They 
should  be  carefully  followed  out  to  a  convenient  distance,  and  in  setting  them  again, 
they  should  have  space  enough  provided  without  bending  them.  Besides  the  gain  in 
nutrition  thus  secured  by  the  tree,  we  have  by  this  means  an  additional  security  in  the 
bracing  and  support  secured  by  a  broad  base  and  steady  ' '  anchorage. ' '  The  ends  of 
broken  roots  should  be  cut  off  smooth  before  the  tree  is  planted. 

The  holes  for  the  trees  should  be  always  made  before  the  trees  are  brought  on  the 
ground.  They  should  be  somewhat  larger  and  deeper  than  those  needed  in  common 
planting  on  private  lands,  because  it  is  desirable  to  give  the  trees  the  best  possible  oppor- 
tunity at  the  start.  The  surface  soil,  being  generally  the  best,  should  be  thrown  up  on 
one  side,  and  the  poorer  soil  from  below  on  the  other.  In  filling  in,  the  better  soil 
should  be  returned  first,  so  as  to  be  nearer  the  roots.  In  hard  clayey  soils  great  advan- 
tage is  gained  by  digging  the  holes  in  the  fall,  so  that  the  earth  may  be  exposed  to  the 
weather  through  the  winter.  The  holes  might  be  loosely  covered  with  boards  when 
necessary.  If  the  soil  be  somewhat  sterile,  a  wagon-load  of  rich  loam,  compost,  or  wood's 
earth,  placed  below  and  around  the  roots,  would  be  the  cheapest  means  for  insuring 
success.  In  applying  manures  care  should  be  taken  that  they  be  placed  below  and  near, 
but  not  in  contact  with  the  roots.  In  setting  the  tree  it  should  be  placed  a  trifle  deeper 
than  it  stood  before,  the  roots  should  be  spread  out  so  that  none  are  doubled,  and  fine 
rich  soil  should  be  carefully  sifted  in  among  them  so  as  to  fill  every  space.  Sometimes 
the  roots  are  dipped  in  a  tub  containing  a  thin  mud  of  rich  soil  before  they  are  set. 
In  any  event,  unless  the  soil  is  evidently  damp  enough,  the  trees  should  be  well  watered 
as  soon  as  they  are  planted,  and  this  process  in  dry  seasons  should  be  repeated  from  time 
to  time  through  the  first  and  second  years.  If  it  be  a  very  dry  soil,  this  watering  should 
be  continued  longer,  and  this  is  a  service  that  can  be  assigned  to  the  scholars  with  great 
propriety,  but  should  not  be  overdone.  The  soil  should  be  pressed  down  around  the 
roots  to  give  them  a  firm  hold.  In  the  light  porous  soil  of  the  prairies  it  can  scarcely  be 
too  firmly  trodden  down,  as  well  at  the  bottom  of  the  holes  before  setting,  as  on  the  top 
after  the  tree  is  planted.  The  surface  should  not  be  rounded  up  around  the  trees,  at 
least  no  more  than  to  allow  for  settling,  and  the  tree,  when  well  established,  should  have 
the  soil  around  it  on  the  level  or,  if  anything,  a  little  below  the  general  surface.  In 
shovelling  paths  in  the  snow,  it  is  well  to  heap  it  up  around  the  trees  in  winter,  to  pre- 
vent them  from  starting  prematurely  in  spring. 

The  fresh  surface  around  a  newly  planted  tree,  if  in  a  dry  climate,  should  be  mulched 
by  a  covering  of  straw,  leaves,  or  of  wood  chips,  the  last  being  always  a  proper  surface- 
dressing  around  young  trees.  If  the  soil  is  not  otherwise  covered  as  above,  it  should  be 
kept  free  from  weeds  and  grass  until  the  trees  are  well  started,  and  it  should  be  pre- 
vented from  baking  by  occasionally  raking  or  hoeing  the  surface  lightly,  especially  in  a 
dry  time.  If  the  grounds  are  naturally  wet,  they  should  be  properly  drained.  In  excep- 
tional cases,  where  irrigation  is  possible  and  the  soil  and  climate  are  of  the  arid  type, 
this  may  be  the  only  means  for  making  trees  survive. 

In  taking  up  a  tree  for  transplanting,  a  part  of  the  roots  will  necessarily  be  left  in  the 
ground.  It  is  in  many  cases  necessary  to  shorten  the  branches,  so  that  a  due  balance 


may  be  maintained  between  the  foliage  and  the  roots,  for  as  a  rule  the  trees  with  most 
rigorous  tops  are  best  supplied  with  roots.  It  will  be  necessary  to  trim  off  the  side 
branches  of  trees  planted  for  ornament  around  school-houses,  until  the  tops  are  carried 
above  reach.  It  is  often  proper  with  larger  trees  to  afford  some  shelter  to  the  trunks  thus 
exposed  to  the  sun,  by  binding  straw  around  them  er  by  placing  a  board  as  a  screen  on 
the  south  side. 

WHEEE  TO  PLANT. 

It  is  needless  to  remark  that  a  school  room  needs  an  abundance  of  fresh  air  and  suffi- 
cient light.  The  trees  planted  upon  the  grounds  around  it  should  therefore  stand  iar 
enough  away  to  allow  a  free  circulation  of  the  air,  although  they  might  when  grown 
afford  a  grateful  shade.  As  a  general  rule,  even  in  the  smallest  grounds,  a  row  of  trees 
may  be  planted  in  the  street,  six  or  eight  feet  from  the  fence  line,  but  always  protected 
by  guards  and  hitching  posts,  as  already  noticed.  In  small  lots  the  corners  only  might 
admit  of  further  planting;  but  with  wider  opportunity  we  may  gain  some  effect  from 
the  grouping  of  trees,  and  upon  still  more  ample  premises,  such  as  should  always  belong 
to  academies  and  colleges,  we  may  with  great  profit  attempt  the  cultivation  of  trees  in 
considerable  variety  With  the  view  of  securing  a  pleasing  combination  of  views  and  ob- 
j  ect  lessons  in  sylviculture.  If  there  be  outbuildings,  they  should  be  invariably  screened 
by  trees,  and  if  there  be  an  adjoining  marshy  spot,  it  should  be  covered  with  trees  or 
bushes  suited  to  the  conditions. 

It  may  sometimes  happen  that  the  owners  of  the  adjoining  lands  may  be  willing  to 
plant  the  roadsides  leading  to  the  school-house  with  an  avenue  of  trees,  or  they  may  con- 
sent to  this  being  done  by  those  interested  in  the  school  grounds  under  improvement. 
It  is  always  very  desirable  to  enlist  the  children  of  the  school  in  these  operations,  by 
their  assistance  in  the  planting  and  their  care  afterward.  Where  certain  trees  are  as- 
signed to  particular  scholars  or  to  little  committees  to  whom  their  protection  is  in- 
trusted, the  interest  thus  secured  would  not  fail  to  produc  the  happiest  effect.  The 
trees  might  be  named  in  memory  of  some  person  or  some  event  worthy  of  remembrance, 
and  the  associations  thus  created  would  not  fail  to  recall  the  pleasant  associations  that 
happy  childhood  is  sure  to  impart  to  after  life. 

As  to  the  intervals  between  the  trees  planted  in  lines,  something  will  depend  upon 
their  kinds  and  upon  the  soil,  exposure,  and  other  circumstances  of  the  place.  As  a 
general  rule,  in  grove  and  forest  planting,  a  great  many  more  trees  must  be  started  than 
we  expect  or  wish  to  have  grow  to  full  size,  and  they  must  be  thinned  out  from  time  to 
time  as  they  become  crowded.  We  thus  secure  high  and  uniform  bodies  to  the  trees,  without 
the  need  of  side  pruning.  But  in  the  case  of  trees  in  avenues,  we  cannot  do  this,  excepting 
by  sometimes  taking  out  alternate  trees.  It  is  sometimes  the  custom  to  plant  for  more 
immediate  effect  the  alternate  trees  of  some  rapidly  growing  kind,  which  tend  to  make 
the  others  grow  higher,  as,  for  example,  poplars  and  elms,  the  former  being  taken  out 
when  they  are  no  longer  wanted.  From  fifteen  to  twenty  feet  will  generally  be  found  a 
proper  interval ;  but  in  the  case  of  those  with  wide  spreading  tops  thirty  feet  should  be 
allowed. 

Before  leaving  the  subject  of  methods  in  planting  we  should  not  fail  to  condemn  a 
practice  that  has  been  followed  in  certain  irrigated  districts  in  the  far  West,  in  which 
poles  of  cottonwood,  without  root  or  branch  and  sometimes  large  enough  for  telegraph 
poles,  have  been  set  along  streets  and  have  grown  to  become  trees.  In  fact,  poles 
set  for  telegraph  use  have  thus  budded  and  grown  like  Aaron's  rod  where  trees  were 
not  expected  or  desired.  Such  trees,  however,  become  hollow  in  a  few  years,  and  are 
short  lived.  The  reason  is  obvious;  for  the  branches  are  put  forth  at  some  distance 
below  the  top,  which  dries  up  and  rots  off,  leaving  a  hole  open  to  the  rains.  The  lower 
end  gives  off  roots  around  the  edge  and  sides,  but  the  middle  part  soon  rots  from  the 
absorption  of  water  until  a  hollow  space  is  formed  from  one  end  to  the  other.  A  small 
tree  would  outgrow  such  a  pole  in  a  few  years  and  survive  half  a  century  after  it  was 
dead  and  forgotten. 


WHAT  SHOULD   WE  PLANT? 

In  a  country  extending  over  such  a  length  and  breadth  as  the  United  States,  no  gen- 
eral answer  could  possibly  be  given  to  this  question,  further  than  this:  as  a  rule  we 
should  select,  especially  for  small  grounds,  the  species  that  grow  naturally  in  the  region 
about  and  which  were  found  to  be  most  hardy  and  certain  when  transplanted.  The 
deciduous  species  would  almost  always  have  preference,  except  upon  grounds  of  ample 
size,  in  which  groups  and  masses  of  evergreen  trees  might  appear  to  fine  advantage 
among  those  that  shed  their  leaves  in  autumn.  There  is  one  situation,  however,  in 
which  a  screen  of  evergreens  would  be  very  generally  proper,  viz,  for  the  concealment 
of  outhouses  and  other  unsightly  premises.  For  this  use  the  arbor  vitae,  Norway  spruce, 
or  red  cedar  in  the  North,  or  the  vines  with  evergreen  leaves  in  the  South,  would  be  most 
appropriate.  It  might  sometimes  be  worth  its  cost  for  a  neighbor  to  plant  such  a  screen 
upon  his  own  side  of  the  fence,  along  the  line  of  the  school-house  lot,  and  this  could 
scarcely  fail  of  proving  a  welcome  addition  to  plantations  upon  the  public  premises  ad- 
jacent. 

In  selecting  the  kinds  of  trees  that  should  be  planted  regard  should  be  had  to  their 
liability  to  injury  from  accident,  their  tendency  to  sprout  where  not  wanted,  the  agree- 
able or  disagreeable  odors  that  they  may  emit,  the  ornamental  character  of  their  flowers 
or  fruit,  their  longevity,  rate  of  growth,  and  other  circumstances  tending  to  make  them 
more  or  less  acceptable  in  the  places  where  they  are  to  remain.  It  is  scarcely  worth 
while  to  consider  the  value  of  their  wood,  as  trees  in  such  places  would  scarcely  ever  be 
cut  until  they  were  passing  to  decay. 

Taking  up  the  points  of  excellence  or  of  disadvantage  in  the  order  above  mentioned,  we 
will  state  some  considerations  that  deserve  notice  under  each: 

1.  Liability  to  injury  from  accident.— The  part  most  liable  to  injury  is  the  bark,  and 
wherever  any  part  of  this  covering  is  bruised  or  broken  off  the  wood  underneath  dies. 
The  wound  is  only  healed  by  growing  over  on  the  sides,  and  years  may  be  required  to 
repair  an  injury  that  can  never  be  entirely  made  good  in  the  wood  within.  While  most 
trees  are  more  liable  to  injury  while  they  are  small  and  all  of  them  are  more  easily 
peeled  in  early  summer  while  the  new  layer  of  wood  is  forming,  there  are  some  that 
acquire  greater  immunity  with  age  Jhan  others.  Of  all  the  native  trees  of  the  Northern 
States  the  American  elm  ( Ulmus  Americana)  is  perhaps  least  liable  to  accident  from  a 
bruise  upon  the  bark;  and  there  are  few  if  any  that  should  be  more  generally  preferred. 
It  carries  its  shade  high  above  the  level  of  our  windows;  it  is  seldom  broken  or  thrown 
down  by  the  winds;  it  lives  to  a  great  age  and  grows  to  a  large  size,  and  it  presents  a 
majestic  and  graceful  outline  as  agreeable  to  the  view  as  its  spreading  canopy  is  refreshing 
in  its  shade.  The  red  or  slippery  elm  might  be  liable  to  be  peeled  by  unruly  boys,  for 
its  inner  bark,  and  should  for  this  reason  be  planted  only  upon  private  grounds. 

The  maples  are  justly  prized  as  shade  trees,  and  the  sugar  maple  (Acer  saccharinum) 
may  perhaps  be  placed  first  on  the  list,  as  affording  a  dense  shade  and  a  graceful  oval 
outline;  but  as  we  go  west  its  growth  becomes  slower,  until  it  ceases  to  be  desirable  as 
an  ornamental  tree.  Of  the  soft  maples  (Acer  rubrum  and  A.  dasyearpum),  the  former  is 
noted  for  its  bright  red  blossoms  and  the  latter  for  the  lighter  color  on  the  underside  of  the 
leaves  and  for  its  very  rapid  growth,  but  it  is  easily  broken  by  the  winds  and  in  some 
localities  is  liable  to  injury  from  borers.  Both  of  the  soft  maples  ripen  their  seeds  early 
in  the  season,  and  should  be  sown  the  same  year.  All  of  the  maples  are  conspicuous 
in  the  declining  year  from  the  bright  eoloring  of  their  autumnal  foliage.  The  box  elder 
or  ash-leaved  maple  (Negundo  aceroides),  a  nearly  allied  species,  is  a  favorite  shade-tree 
in  the  Western  States,  and  grows  well  in  the  middle  latitudes  of  the  Atlantic  States, 
but  does  not  endure  a  cold  climate. 

The  poplars  and  the  cottonwoods  (all  belonging  to  the  genus  Populus  and  forming  many 
species)  grow  rapidly,  and  some  of  them  where  other  trees  can  scarcely  be  made  to  thrive. 
The  tall  columnar  Lombardy  poplar  can  scarcely  be  recommended,  excepting  in  the 


background,  to  relieve  the  monotony  of  other  trees.  It  grows  very  rapidly,  but  is  short- 
lived. The  beech,  birches,  catalpa  (of  the  hardy  species),  oaks,  linden,  hickories,  wal- 
nuts, locust,  sycamore  (or  American  plane  tree),  chestnut,  ash  (of  several  species), 
mountain  ash,  buckeyes,  tulip-poplar,  and  many  other  trees  afford  advantages  more  or 
less  worthy  of  notice  throughout  the  Northern  States,  while  in  the  Southern  and  Pacific 
States  there  is  a  wide  range  of  choice  among  a  great  number  of  native  species. 

In  wet  places,  the  willows,  alders,  American  larch,  black  ash,  and  some  of  the  oaks  find 
an  appropriate  place,  and  we  should  not  fail  to  especially  commend  the  gray  willow  as 
particularly  valuable  as  a  wind-break  in  the  Northwest,  where  a  screen  of  this  kind 
around  the  border  of  a  school-house  lot  would  prove  a  luxury  in  winter  as  well  as  a  joy 
in  summer,  even  if  there  were  no  other  plantation  upon  the  premises.  It  does  not  re- 
quire a  wet  soil,  like  some  of  the  species;  it  growswell  from  cuttings,  without  roots,  that 
are  simply  stuck  into  a  soil  well  prepared,  and  it  grows  rapidly  in  regions  where  many 
other  trees  cannot  be  made  to  live. 

2.  Tendency  to  sprout. — The  poplars,  willows,  locust,  ailantus,  and  some  other  kinds  of 
trees  have  the  habit  of  sending  up  sprouts  from  their  tracing  roots  at  some  distance  from 
the  trunk.     In  tracts  reserved  for  timber  growth  there  is  no  objection  to  this;  in  fact, 
it  becomes  a  valuable  means  for  their  reproduction;  but  in  ornamental  plantations  it  be- 
comes a  nuisance  that  should  sometimes  be  avoided.     The  first  two  of  these  are  particu- 
larly liable  to  fill  water  pipes  and  wells  with  their  roots,  and  they  will  sometimes  insin- 
uate themselves  into  the  crevices  of  walls,  and  tend  to  weaken  the  foundations  of  build- 
ings, or  to  start  a  leak  in  aqueducts,  by  the  expansion  of  their  roots. 

3.  TJie  odors  emitted  by  trees. — The  ailantus  is  known  to  have  a  sickening  odor  when  in 
blossom.     Many  trees  are  perceptibly  fragrant  when  in  blossom.     The  pines  emit  a  res- 
inous and  the  eucalyptus  a  balsamic  odor,  which  is  reputed  to  be  healthy  and  to  most 
persons  is  agreeable. 

As  to  the  other  qualities  of  ornament,  in  flowers  and  fruit  and  the  like,  there  is  an 
unlimited  range  of  choice,  and  there  are  few  sections  of  the  country  within  the  inhab- 
ited regions  that  do  not  present  opportunities  for  cultivation  well  deserving  of  notice. 

WHEN   TO  PLANT. 

As  a  general  rule,  trees  succeed  best  when  planted  in  spring.  It  is  a  common  remark 
that  the  ' '  season  for  planting  corn "  is  a  proper  time  for  planting  generally,  and  it  is 
not  far  from  the  truth.  In  some  sections,  however,  fall  planting  has  preference,  and  in 
large  operations  about  a  month  in  spring  and  another  month  in  fall*  are  given  to  the 
business.  In  the  case  of  deciduous  trees  it  may  be  broadly  stated  that  they  may  be 
transplanted  with  more  or  less  certainty  at  any  period  between  the  fall  of  the  leaves  in 
autumn  and  the  appearance  of  leaves  in  spring.  With  the  coniferous  evergreens  the 
most  vigorous  time  of  growth — just  after  the  buds  have  started — is  preferred.  In  cases 
where  the  young  trees  are  set  from  pots  or  boxes  without  disturbing  the  soil  about  the 
roots,  they  can  be  set  in  the  earth  at  any  time  when  the  ground  is  not  frozen,  but  do 
best  when  planted  in  spring. 

ARBOK  DAY. 

In  several  of  the  Western  States  they  have  what  is  property  named  an  "arbor  day," 
sometimes  appointed  by  law  and  at  other  times  designated  by  other  authority  or  fixed 
upon  by  agreement,  to  be  wholly  devoted  to  the  planting  of  trees.  It  is  a  pleasant  and 
highly  commendable  custom,  and  has  but  the  single  disadvantage  of  sometimes  happen- 
ing on  a  day  that  proves  stormy.  If  such  an  accident  happens,  the  next  pleasant  day 
should  be  devoted  to  the  business,  and  in  all  cases  the  holes  should  be  all  previously  dug, 
so  as  to  expedite  business  and  secure  the  largest  possible  result.  In  cases  where  trees  are 
dug  up  and  their  planting  is  delayed  from  any  cause,  as  will  sometimes  unavoidably 
happen  where  they  are  sent  from  distant  nurseries,  the  roots  should  be  "heeled  in  "  by 
placing  them  in  trenches  and  lightly  covering  them  with  soil.  In  every  case  it  is  a  good 
plan  to  keep  the  roots  covered  from  the  air  as  much  as  possible  while  out  of  the  ground, 
using  cloths,  straw,  hay,  dead  leaves,  moss,  soil,  or  any  other  covering  most  convenient. 


AN   AEBORETUM. 

An  arboretum  is  a  collection  of  living  trees,  planted  in  as  great  variety  as  the  soil  and 
climate  will  permit.  The  trees  should  be  placed  in  groups,  so  that  the  oaks,  maples, 
birches,  pi^es,  spruces,  firs,  cedars,  &c.,  maybe  adjacent,  generally  one  of  each  species  and 
sometimes  in  great  variety,  for  in  most  of  the  cultivated  trees  many  variations  from  the 
original  form  have  been  produced  by  accident  or  have  appeared  under  cultivation.  A 
variety,  or  "sport,"  maybe  propagated  without  limit  by  grafting,  budding,  or  layers, 
but  never  forms  a  separate  species.  In  other  cases  hybrids  are  produced  by  accidental 
cross-fertilization,  but  both  hybrids  and  varieties,  where  they  bear  seeds,  tend  to  pro- 
duce plants  of  the  original  types. 

No  institution  of  learning  in  the  country,  having  grounds  sufficiently  ample,  should  be 
without  plantations  of  this  kind,  which  should  always  be  labelled  with  their  botanical 
and  common  names.  They  are  also  of  first  importance  in  city  parks  and  public  grounds, 
and  it  is  to  be  earnestly  hoped  that  at  no  distant  day  they  may  be  found  wherever  there 
is  opportunity  in  these  places. 

COLLECTIONS. 

There  is  no  school-house  in  the  country,  whether  in  city  and  village  or  rural  district. 
which  might  not  have  at  slight  expense  an  interesting  collection  of  the  native  woods  of  the 
vicinity.  These  specimens  should  be  prepared  by  having  one  or  more  faces  planed  and 
polished  or  varnished  to  show  the  grain  of  the  wood  when  worked  to  best  advantage,  and 
another  face  simply  planed  and  left  in-dts  natural  color.  There  should  be  some  portion 
of  th«  bark,  and  it  would  be  still  better  if  there  were  shown  in  connection  with  the  wood 
dried  specimens  of  the  leaves  and  blossoms,  the  fruit,  and  the  resinous  or  other  products. 
Such  collections  made  up  by  the  scholars,  and  correctly  labelled,  under  the  care  of  the 
teachers,  would  become  object  lessons  of  first  importance  as  an  agency  for  instruction. 
They  would  afford  the  most  profitable  kind  of  employment  for  the  leisure  hours,  and 
might  awaken  a  love  of  close  observation  and  a  thirst  for  further  knowledge  that  would 
ripen  into  the  best  of  fruits. 

CONCLUSION. 

I  have  thus  briefly  touched  upon  some  of  the  points  that  might  be  properly  noticed 
under  the  head  of  planting  upon  school  lots  and  the  cultivation  of  a  taste  for  rural 
ornament.  The  subject  would  bear  #mple  enlargement,  and  it  may  be  that  the  points 
here  presented  will  lead  to  further  thought  in  those  who  may  read  these  pages.  l 

In  the  presence  of  our  rapidly  wasting  supplies,  it  must  be  evident  to  every  sensible 
person  that  something  should  be  done  to  economize  what  remains  of  our  native  forest 
products,  and  to  provide  by  seasonable  planting  for  future  wants.  It  should  be  held  as  the 
duty  and  the  privilege  of  those  having  charge  of  our  public  schools  to  set  an  example 
worthy  of  following  by  the  planting  of  their  grounds  for  the  effect  it  may  have  upon 
those  under  instruction,  aside  from  the  amenities  that  they  thus  secure  to  their  premises. 
The  scholars  now  in  their  schools  will  in  a  few  years  be  the  owners  of  the  lands  around 
them,  and  since  all  our  lands  in  most  of  the  States  belong  to  private  owners,  upon  them 
will  devolve  whatever  duties  the  necessities  of  the  future  may  impose  in  the  way  of 
planting  for  the  supply  of  future  wants. 
Respectfully  yours, 

FKANKLIN  B.  HOUGH, 

Chief  of  Forestry  Division,  Department  of  Agriculture. 
Hon.  JOHN  EATON, 

Commissioner  of  Education. 

1  Fuller  expression  of  Dr.  Hough's  views  will  be  found  in  his  various  reports  on  forestry,  published 
by  the  Department  of  Agriculture  ;  in  the  American  Journal  of  Forestry,  a  monthly  published  by 
Robert  Clarke  &  Co.,  of  Cincinnati,  which  he  edits;  and  in  the  Elements  of  Forestry,  a  manual, 
also  published  by  Clarke  &  Co.  — COMMISSIOKEB. 


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